A Story About Love
by Hope Grace
Summary: Chloe is the "Sparkling Diamond", the star of the Moulin Rouge. Although she is bound to the sniveling Duke Phillip, her heart really belongs to penniless Bohemian writer Brady. Can love overcome everything until the end of time?
1. Nature Boy

Title: A Story About Love  
Author: Hope Grace  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Days of Our Lives. I also do not own the Moulin Rouge characters or the story of Moulin Rouge. That belongs to Baz Luhrmann, genius that he is. (Well, actually, Moulin Rouge is based on the Orpheus legend and La Traviata, but it still rocks.)  
  
Summary: Chloe is the "Sparkling Diamond", the star of the Moulin Rouge. Although she is bound to the sniveling Duke Phillip, her heart really belongs to penniless Bohemian writer Brady. Can love overcome everything until the end of time?  
  
Author's Note: This is a HUGE departure for me. HUGE. I mean, I know "Earth Angel" was based on a movie, but this is like fully immersing Days characters into the world of Moulin Rouge. It's an experiment, so I make no guarantees on the quality of it. I'm trying not to just directly steal everything from the movie, but it's not easy. Some scenes will be skipped entirely, and most will be told through the perspective of Satine/Chloe instead of Christian/Brady. And, there will be a very special twist at the end for the Broe fans. (Happy? Yes....)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter One: Nature Boy  
  
Brady stood in his tiny room overlooking the streets of Montmartre, just a heartbeat away from the Moulin Rouge. He ran a hand through his disheveled beard and sighed deeply. A sigh that shook right down to his battered and beaten soul. The lights of the village cast a mournful blue glow across his room. The sky outside his window was black; the same color it had been since the day that Chloe had taken her last breath in his arms.  
  
He knew that life around him continued on. The people outside his window, on the streets below, were living, loving, and enjoying themselves. But, his life had stalled at the moment when her blue eyes had closed for the final time, never to open again. But, as Harry Zidler himself would have said, "The show must go on."  
  
And, that's what he had promised her as she lay dying in his arms. She told him to go on, to tell their story, to share his gift with the world. He had refused, not believing that life could go on without her, but now he knew he had to follow through with her wishes.   
  
He paused a moment to look at the bird in the cage, the one that had belonged to Chloe. It was as if that tiny bird knew that it's owner was now a star in the heavens. The bird's usual chipper whistle had been replaced by a low and mournful tune.  
  
Brady sat at his typewriter and briefly glanced out the window. A soft breeze from outside blew his curtains around, and carried on the breeze was a song.  
  
***There was a boy  
A very strange, enchanted boy  
They say he wandered very far, very far  
Over land and sea  
A little shy and sad of eye  
But very wise was he...  
And then one day  
One magic day  
He passed my way  
And while we spoke of many things  
Fools and kings  
This he said to me...  
'The greatest thing you'll ever learn  
Is just to love...and be loved in return'***  
  
He looked down at the keys in front of him and began typing his story. Their story. A story about love.  
  
"The Moulin Rouge... a nightclub, the dance hall of the bordello. Ruled over by Harold Zidler. A kingdom of nighttime pleasures. Where the rich and powerful came to play with the young and beautiful creatures of the underworld. And the most beautiful of all these was the woman I loved, Chloe, a courtesan. She sold her love to men. They called her the "Sparkling Diamond", and she was the star... of the Moulin Rouge. The woman I loved is... dead. I first came to Paris one year ago. It was 1899, the summer of love. I knew nothing of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler or Chloe. The world had been swept up in the Bohemian revolution. And I traveled from London to be a part of it. On a hill near Paris was the village of Montmartre. It was not as my father had said."  
  
The words of his father echoed through his head. A village of sin is what he had called it. He had told him that he would end up wasting his life away with a dancer at the Moulin Rouge if he left London. But, his father had been wrong. Things were never what they seemed in Montmartre. Brady shook his head and continued his typing.  
  
"It was the center of the Bohemian world with musicians, painters, writers. They were known as the "Children of the Revolution." Yes, I had come to live a penniless existence. I had come to write about truth, beauty, freedom and that which I believe in above all things... LOVE."  
  
"There was only one problem - I'd never been in love!"  
  
Brady sighed and brushed away the piece of blonde hair that had fallen in his face. He quickly tapped out the events of the night when all of this had begun. The night an unconscious Argentinean had fallen through his roof. The night when he was to meet a dwarf named Henri Marie Raymond Toulouse-Lautrec Montfa, but just Toulouse to his friends and acquaintances.  
  
It was his first real taste of the bohemian lifestyle. Somehow he had been convinced to stand in for the unconscious Argentinean as they rehearsed a new production entitled "Spectactular, Spectacular", something that apparently took place in Switzerland and involved a goatherd and a nun. The bohemians argued over one specific lyric, but then again, how would one expect a group of French artists to know what a Swiss nun would sing?  
  
**The hills are animated with, the euphonious symphony of descant... **  
  
**The hills are vital intoning the descant...**  
  
And, even the unconscious Argentinean had woken up long enough to contribute his own idea: **The hills are incarnate with symphonic melodics.**  
  
Brady frowned at them, wondering how it was possible that any of them thought that you could create a lyric with words like that. And, that was when he had suddenly burst out into loud song, a lyric that was more appropriate and far more melodious.  
  
**The hills are alive with the sound of music...**  
  
The faces of his new found friends lit up around him, and Brady continued, his clear and strong voice ringing out across the room.  
  
**With songs they have sung for a thousand years...**  
  
And as simple as that, it had been settled. Brady was to write "Spectacular, Spectacular", and they would somehow convince Harry Zidler to produce the show at the Moulin Rouge. But, Brady was not convinced himself. Could he write the first Bohemian revolutionary show? How did he even know that he was truly a Bohemian Revolutionary?  
  
But, his new friends insisted that he must be. He did, after all, believe in the four ideals of the Children of the Revolution. Truth, beauty, freedom and above all things, love. Love was like oxygen to Brady, even though he had yet to experience it, he imagined that love could truly overcome all obstacles.  
  
But how to convince Zidler? Through Chloe, of course. The Sparkling Diamond of the Moulin Rouge. Toulouse was convinced that once Chloe heard Brady's beautiful poetry, she would insist that Zidler allow him to write "Spectacular, Spectacular".  
  
So, that was that. They were off to the Moulin Rouge, where Brady would perform his poetry for Chloe. And, his life would be changed forever.  
  
***  
  
Like I said, this is freakishly experimental for me, and I NEED your feedback desperately. I need to know whether I should keep this going or not.  
  
I'm writing this and my Mason fic at the same time, so updates to this story will be less frequent than you may be used to from me. I have a feeling this won't be an easy one to write, so the Mason fic will get updated a lot more. Oh boy... What am I getting myself into? LOL.  
  
-Hope- 


	2. The Sparkling Diamond

Chapter Two: The Sparkling Diamond  
  
Chloe walked to the mirror in her dressing room and gazed at her reflection. She had been told that she was every man's fantasy, the kind of woman they thought about at night as they drifted off to sleep. But, she looked at herself in the mirror all she saw was the things that she wasn't. She wasn't loved, and had never been in love. In fact, she had been taught not to believe in love.  
  
All she had was her face, her voice and her body. Men paid her to make them happy, and that was what she did. None of them cared about her, or her dreams. She was only a fantasy to them.  
  
She could hear the noise of the dancer's feet as they flew across the dancehall floor. The bustle of men and women here to indulge their every pleasure. The music filtered its way backstage, as it did every night, causing her head to throb with pain.  
  
***Voulez vous coucher avec moi? Ce soir?***  
  
Harry Zidler was out there now, getting the male patrons riled up for her big entrance. To look out amongst the throng of people that filled the nightclub every night could be a magical thing sometimes. Bodies coming together with the passion of the music that blared through the room.  
  
***Feel the beat of the rhythm of the night, dance until the morning light.***  
  
She heard Harry's grumbling voice barreling out across the crowded floor all the way from where she was.  
  
***Got some dark desire? Love to play with fire? Why not let it rip? Live a little bit! 'Cause you can, can, can!***  
  
And the crowd loudly echoed his sentiments, making the walls shake around her.  
  
***Yes, you can, can can! Here we are now, entertain us! We feel stupid and contagious!***  
  
Chloe looked downward and frowned. She really had come to hate this place in the past few months. Part of her would always belong here, it was the only home she had known for a very long time. Since the day that her mother had left her on the street at 10 years old, she had wandered. And, at age fifteen, she wandered into Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge.  
  
Harry had taken her in, and been the closest thing to a father she had ever known. He believed in her voice, her talent, believed that she could someday leave the Moulin Rouge. But, still, she had to sell her body in order to survive. Even to Harry, she was only worth what someone would pay for her. She knew he cared for her, but it didn't matter, she was still just a piece of property.  
  
And, tonight was the night she would have to make the ultimate sale. She was to meet with Duke Phillip, a man who was interested in investing in the Moulin Rouge's next production. And, although she would have to give her body over to another man, it was her only chance to become a real actress.  
  
Her body didn't belong to her, it belonged to the men who paid their money for it. But, her heart and soul, whatever little of it was left belonged only to her. It was the only thing that kept her clinging to a tiny bit of hope sometimes.  
  
She looked back into the mirror again. The beautiful face with the sad blue eyes. She shut her eyes tightly and laid her hands on her chest. "One day, I'll fly away. One day I will leave this place and never look back."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Brady stood in the entrance of the Moulin Rouge, and was nearly blown back by the noise inside. He moved in further, his eyes nearly popping out at the sights and sounds of it all.  
  
If there was a way to define the word "cacophony", then surely the Moulin Rouge embodied every aspect of that one word. The sound of the music, the voices of the people filling it from wall to wall, and the twirling of the can-can dancers was enough to make you dizzy.  
  
In all of the years that Brady had lived already, and all of the years that were to come, never would he experience something that could compare to his first glimpse of the Moulin Rouge.  
  
Harold Zidler was a rotund man, with a wild mop of curly red hair and a mustache to match. He moved across the floor with ease, shouting out to his patrons.  
  
***Outside it may be raining, but in here it's entertaining! Cause you can, can, can! Cause you can, can, can!***   
  
***Here we are now, entertain us!***   
  
***Outside things may be tragic, But in here we think it's magic!***  
  
Toulouse led him to a table, just to the left of where Duke Phillip happened to be sitting. Brady sat down, but never took his eyes off of the display in front of him. Everything inside the Moulin Rouge seemed brighter, louder and to be moving at a speed that was double of everything outside.  
  
***Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, flow sister  
Gitchie, gitchie, ya ya da da  
Gitchie, gitchie, ya ya here  
Mocha Chocolata ya ya   
Creole Lady Marmalade ***  
  
Another chorus of shouts came from the crowd, and then it all suddenly seemed to stop. Everything moved in slow motion except for the one light descending from the ceiling. The room was silent, and Brady breathed in slowly, caught up in the magic that was about to take place.  
  
Toulouse leaned forward and pointed up to the ceiling as he excitedly whispered in Brady's ear. "It's her! The Sparkling Diamond!"   
  
Chloe descended over the crowd like an angel sent from above. Brady had never in his life seen a creature so beautiful. Her hair was long and dark, cascading past her shoulders in waves. She had skin that looked smooth and soft, and such perfect features that they were surely sculpted by the hands of God himself. But, the thing he noticed most of all were her eyes. Wide and blue, like the ocean at sunrise, and Brady could see right through them and into her heart immediately.   
  
Indeed, nothing was quite as it seemed in Montmartre or at the Moulin Rouge. For Chloe was not merely just a beautiful face and body to match, but Brady saw into her soul, and saw immediately that she could be so much more than what other people saw in her.  
  
Her song began and she started singing, soft and sultry at first.  
  
***The French are glad to die for love. They delight in fighting duels. But I prefer a man who lives... And gives expensive jewels.***  
  
The music grew louder, the tempo faster, and she began an elaborate and raucous dance number, along with the other dancers.  
  
***A kiss on the hand may be quite continental  
But diamonds are a girl's best friend   
A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental  
on your humble flat... Or help you feed your -meow- pussycat  
Men grow cold as girls grow old,   
and we all lose our charms in the end  
But square cut or pear shaped,   
these rocks don't lose their shapes  
Diamonds are a girl's best friend...***  
  
But, Brady wasn't the only one who was to meet with Chloe tonight. Little did he know, at the table next to him was Duke Phillip, Zidler's investor. Harry took a seat across from the Duke, explaining that he had arranged a private meeting with Chloe after her number... totally alone.  
  
Toulouse leaned in to speak to Brady, but he could not take his eyes off of the angel that was moving across the dance floor. "After her number, I've arranged a private meeting with just you and Mademoiselle Chloe totally alone."  
  
Brady's eyes widened, barely breaking the trance he was in. "Totally alone?"  
  
Toulouse nodded reassuringly. "Totally alone..."  
  
***Cause we are living in a material world,   
and I am a material girl!   
Black star, Rozz call,   
talk to me Harry Zidler, tell me all about it!  
There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer...***  
  
Harry had rejoined his sparkling diamond on the dance floor to finish out the number with her.  
  
***But diamond's are a girl's best friend.***  
  
They performed the next part together, alternating lines.  
  
***There may come a time when a hot-boiled employer thinks you're***   
  
***Awful nice...***  
  
***But get that ice or else no dice!***  
  
Harry and Chloe ducked out of sight, as the dancers continued around her, preparing herself for a quick costume change. She whispered to him, nervous about the meeting that was to take place tonight.  
  
"Is the Duke here? Phillip?"  
  
"Of course, Chloe..."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
In the meantime, Toulouse had accidentally made a mess all over Phillip as he passed by the Duke's table. He was attempting to clean up as, Phillip pushed him away angrily. Harry peeked through the crowd and saw Toulouse waving a handkerchief at Phillip.  
  
"He's the one that Toulouse is shaking his hanky at."  
  
Toulouse moved back to the other table to ask Christian for another hanky, and Chloe glanced over the crowd to see Toulouse waving a hanky at a strikingly handsome young man in a tux. But, the man she was looking at was not Duke Phillip, it was Brady.  
  
"Harry... Are you sure?"  
  
Toulouse moved back to the Duke's table and continued his efforts to clean up the mess he made. Harry looked again and nodded. "That's the one, chickpea. I hope that demonic loon won't frighten him away."  
  
Chloe looked at him with concern. "Will he invest?"  
  
"Oh pigeon, after spending the night with you, how could he resist?"  
  
"What's his type? Wilting flower?" Chloe posed sweet and innocently, trying out one of her many looks.  
  
"Bright and bubbly?" She smiled widely, letting her eyes light up happily."  
  
"Or smoldering temptress?" She raised one eyebrow sexily and growled like a tigress.  
  
Harry paused thoughtfully, considering what the duke would approve of. "I'd say smoldering temptress. We're all relying on you, Gosling... Remember - a real show, with a real theater, with a real audience. And you'll be..."  
  
Chloe sighed softly, her hopes and dreams ever present in her eyes. "A real actress..."  
  
Her costume was changed, and she emerged suddenly from the crowd around her to bring the song to a close.  
  
***Cause that's when those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend!***  
  
As the music ended, she glided across the floor towards Brady, the man that she thought was Duke Phillip. He looked up at her as if he had never seen anything like her in his life, and she purred seductively towards him.  
  
"I believe you were expecting me."  
  
Brady couldn't believe that somehow he was allowed to be in such close proximity to a creature so rare and beautiful. He barely stammered out his reply. "Yes, yes, yes..."  
  
"I'm afraid it's ladies' choice."  
  
Brady looked at her in confusion and she grabbed on to his hand, yanking him on to the dance floor. They began dancing around the floor together, and Brady shut the world around him completely out as he stared into her eyes.  
  
Chloe seemed to be strangely affected by his presence. Could the duke that she had heard so much about really be this handsome? And, it wasn't just his face that affected her, there was something in his smile and in his eyes that felt like a song to her. Beautiful, melodious and healing.  
  
She shook off the butterflies that were flying around in her stomach and did her job as instructed. She wasn't there to fall in love with this man, she was there to get his money. "So wonderful of you to take an interest in our little show."  
  
"It... sounds very exciting. I'd love to be involved."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"That is... assuming you like what I do, of course."  
  
Chloe looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Most men didn't care about what she thought of their sexual abilities. Interesting. "I'm... I'm sure I will."  
  
"Toulouse thought that we might be able to do it... in private."  
  
"Did he?"  
  
Brady nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, you know, a private... poetry reading."  
  
That was definitely strange. Sure, he was paying, he could call it whatever he wanted to. But 'poetry reading' was certainly a new one to her. "Oh, uhm... a poetry reading? I love a little poetry after supper."  
  
She winked at him and let go, moving back to the trapeze that would help her ascend towards the ceiling from whence she came. Her song continued, and she kept her eyes glued to the handsome man she thought was Duke Phillip.  
  
***Diamonds... Diamonds... Diamonds are a girls best...*  
  
She tried to force the next words out, but her breathing came heavily in sharp gasps. The world around her began spinning, and she felt the blackness close in on her. She fell from her trapeze as she fainted, landing in the arms of Chocolat, one of the men at the Moulin Rouge.  
  
The crowd around her was silent, watching as Chocolat carried her back to her dressing room. Harry had first issued a sound of fright, but quickly remembered that his fear could be bad for business. He shouted back to the crowd, encouraging them to continue their revelry.  
  
Toulouse stood next to Brady and enthusiastically patted him on the back. He was off, ready to meet in private with Chloe, to share with her the poetry that was in his heart.  
  
***  
  
I hope I explained the mistaken identity thing well enough for the people who haven't seen the movie. But, just in case: Chloe thinks Brady is the Duke because of Toulouse going back and forth between the two tables. That's the set up for the entire next scene.  
  
Thank you to my fans (all five of you) for encouraging me to continue this story.  
  
-Hope Grace- 


	3. My Gift is My Song

(To those who haven't seen Moulin Rouge: Remember, Chloe thinks that Brady is Duke Phillip. Brady thinks he's trying to read her his poetry, she thinks she's supposed to make love with the Duke to get financing for the show. I just have to re-state it in case my crappy writing doesn't capture how funny the first part of the Broe scene is supposed to be.)  
  
Chapter Three: My Gift is My Song  
  
Chloe awoke slowly in her dressing room, brought around by the smelling salts that Marie held in front of her nose. Marie was like a mother to the Moulin Rouge girls, at least the closest thing to a mother that any of them had ever known. Her blue eyes fluttered open, unable to process whatever it was that had happened to her out on the trapeze. She felt hot, sweat breaking out on her forehead, as if her world had been closing in on her.  
  
She rested one delicate hand on the bodice of her dress. It had to have been her costume that encapsulated her tightly which caused her to have a fainting spell. These things were far too heavy, and gave her hardly any breathing room at all.  
  
"Oh... Marie... These silly costumes..."  
  
The club's stage manager came bustling in, directing the other girls to head back to the dance floor. "All right, you girls - get back out front and make those gents thirsty!"  
  
He looked at Marie with concern. "Problems?"  
  
Marie shook her head and waved him and the other girls off. "Nothing for you to be worried about."  
  
"Good. Let's not stand around then."  
  
He quickly walked out, the other dancers leaving with him. Chloe coughed violently, and Marie kindly held up a handkerchief to her mouth. Her coughing fit ended, and she sat back, taking deep breaths in to calm herself.  
  
What she didn't see was what Marie held in her hands. The white handkerchief was spotted with blood, Chloe's blood.  
  
Once she caught her breath, and wiped the sweat from her brow, she stood from the couch and quickly changed into the outfit she would wear to meet the duke. When she had finished dressing, she stood in front of her mirror once again and adjusted her long dark hair.  
  
Marie smiled proudly at her. "That twinkle-toes Duke sure took the bait. With a patron like that, you'll be the next Sarah Bernhardt."  
  
Chloe sighed softly, that's all she ever wanted, to be taken seriously as an actress. No matter what the cost was. "Do you really think I could be like the great Sarah?"  
  
"Why not? You have the talent. You hook that Duke and you'll be lighting up all of the great stages of the world"  
  
Chloe said it out loud, not because Marie needed to hear it, but because she did. "I'm going to be a real actress, Marie. A great actress. And, I'm going to fly away from here."  
  
She looked at her bird in its cage as it sung its happy tune. "That's right, you and me... we're both going to fly away some day."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
(Inside the Elephant. Yes, Chloe lives in a small building shaped like an elephant.)  
  
Brady stood at the window in her room, trying to calm his nerves. He hoped, for the sake of the show, that Mademoiselle Chloe would be as taken with his poetry as the bohemians had been. He wanted, so very badly, to be allowed to write 'Spectacular, Spectacular'. But, more than that his heart yearned to be near Chloe. If there was such a thing as love at first sight, then truly, he had fallen in love with her.  
  
Little did Brady know, that just outside the window his four bohemian friends were climbing to the side of the elephant to get a view of the proceedings. Toulouse, the Argentinean, Satie the piano player, and the Doctor found a position to watch from, also hoping that Chloe would be persuaded to take Brady's poetry to Zidler.  
  
The door swung open and she entered with a sly smile on her face. She drank in the appearance of the man she thought was Duke Phillip. Once again, she was selling her body to a man he had just met. But, in this man's case, at least he was handsome. He had soft, shiny blonde hair with at least one stray piece that always seemed to fall forward. And, his eyes were blue and soulful, making Chloe wonder if there was more to this rich, powerful Duke Phillip. Not to mention, even in a tuxedo, it was obvious that he had a physique that was unmatched. Firm, strong and powerful.  
  
Brady turned when he heard her enter, obviously taken aback by her appearance. She was dressed in a black corset, draped in a nearly sheer black dress, accentuating all of her curves in exactly the right places.  
  
Chloe smiled seductively "This is a wonderful place for a poetry reading, don't you think?"  
  
She sashayed towards him and grinned. "Poetic enough for you?"  
  
Brady could hardly speak. She had been beautiful enough in the lights of the Moulin Rouge. But, here alone with her, she was even more perfect. He searched her eyes, knowing that there was far more to this woman than the temptress she had to portray for her 'customers'. He barely stammered out one word. "Yes...'  
  
Chloe walked towards the table covered with different fruits, and bottles of champagne. "A little supper? Maybe some champagne?"  
  
"I'd... I'd rather just uhm... get it over and done with."  
  
Chloe paused with surprise. No foreplay necessary. This Duke was a man of action. She turned back to him with one eyebrow raised and moved immediately towards the bed, lying down on her side.  
  
"Oh... very well... then why don't you come down here and let's get it over and done with?"  
  
Brady's eyes widened in surprised. She wanted him to read her poetry in bed? He might have been able to oblige her request had he not been trembling so nervously. "I'd prefer to do it standing."  
  
"Oh." Chloe stood and looked at him curiously.  
  
"You don't have to stand I mean. Sometimes it's that - it's quite long."  
  
Chloe looked at him with shock. Granted, most men she had been with liked to brag needlessly about their... girth. But, this was still somewhat surprising.  
  
Brady continued on, as Chloe sat back down on the bed. "And I-I'd like you to be comfortable. It's quite modern what I do and it may feel a little strange at first but -- but I think if you're open then -- then you might enjoy it."  
  
"I'm sure I will."  
  
Brady breathed in deeply, trying to find the words to say. The words that would convince her that he was a writer. "I... Oh... Ugh... I... The sky is..."  
  
Chloe pulled herself to the edge of the bed and looked at him with concern. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm just a little nervous. Sometimes it takes a while... for you know... inspiration to come."  
  
Chloe stood and nodded in understanding. "Oh yes, yes, of course. Let me help."  
  
She walked towards him and placed her hand at the front of his pants. "Does that... inspire you?"  
  
Chloe grabbed him by the lapels of his tux jacket and threw him to the bed, straddling herself on top of him. "Let's make love!"  
  
"Make love?" Brady stared at her with shock. Either this woman was more forward than he thought, or she had drunk one too many glasses of absinthe.  
  
"You want to, don't you? Come on, feel the poetry! Come on... feel it... feel it tiger!"  
  
Chloe ran her hands over him, eliciting a soft moan from his mouth. A moan that was a mixture of surprise and pleasure. She started to unzip his pants and grinned wickedly at him. "Oh! Big boy!"  
  
Toulouse was watching through the window and turned to the other bohemians to shout out with surprise. "He's got a huge... TALENT!"  
  
"Yes, I need your poetry now!"  
  
Brady rolled out from underneath her and on to the floor. Under normal circumstances, a beautiful woman on top of him would have been a welcome experience. But, he was here for the poetry reading, and nothing else.  
  
"It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside. I'm not one of those who can easily hide. -- Is this okay? Is this what you want?"  
  
Chloe rolled on the floor and Brady stood. She thought she understood. The Duke wanted her to be turned on by his words, so she played the act to the hilt.  
  
"Oh poetry, yes, yes, yes this is what I want, naughty words. Ohh..."  
  
She began writhing on the floor, moaning and yelling loudly at him as he continued saying the words that were on the top of his head. Words that were directed straight towards her heart. But, Chloe didn't understand, all she knew was that it was her job to make love to the Duke tonight.  
  
" I--I don't have much money, but, boy, if I did I'd buy us a big house where we both could live..."   
  
"Oh yes, yes...Oh yes... oh naughty!"   
  
"If I were a sculptor, but then again no. Or a man who makes potions for a traveling show."  
  
"Oh...don't...don't...don't...don't stop!"   
  
"I know it's not much... But, it's the best I can I do."  
  
Chloe was still moaning with mock pleasure, but in the back of her brain she was listening to his words. Words that were far too wonderful to come from a man who needed to pay for the services of a courtesan.  
  
Brady paused and looked at her strangely, the rest of the words that he wanted to say to her coming to mind suddenly. He sang out to her, his voice strong, clear and full of the love he was feeling in his heart.  
  
***My gift is my song. And this one's for you.***  
  
Chloe paused and looked up at him, her expression immediately changing. He didn't want to make love at all, he wanted to make music. And, his voice was beautiful, shooting straight to the heart she sometimes forgot she had.  
  
***And you can tell everybody that this is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done...  
I hope you don't mind,   
I hope you don't mind...  
That I put down in words...  
How wonderful life is now you're in the world.   
Sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss  
Well, some of these verses, well they,  
they got me quite cross***  
  
Chloe stood and stared at him curiously. This Duke Phillip was talented, and handsome... and if she wasn't mistaken she saw love in his eyes.   
  
***But the sun's been kind  
while I wrote this song  
It's for people like you that keep it turned on  
So excuse me forgetting   
but these things I do  
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue***  
  
Chloe smiled shyly at him as he moved closer. He gently took her hand in his and kissed the top of it, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. Something she never felt when she was with one of her 'patrons.'  
  
***Anyway the thing is, what I really mean...   
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen***  
  
Brady took her other hand and spun her around. He suddenly made her believe in magic. Just one smile and one glance from his blue eyes made her feel as they were dancing on the rooftops of Montmartre. The moon above them seemed to sing along to Brady's song, as the stars fell down over them like a rain of glitter.  
  
***And you can tell everybody that this is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done   
Hope you don't mind,   
I hope you don't mind   
That I put down in words   
How wonderful life is now you're in the world  
Hope you don't mind,   
I hope you don't mind   
That I put down in words,   
how wonderful life is now you're in the world...***  
  
Brady pulled her into his arms, dipping her backwards. She looked up at him and saw something she had never felt before. Love. Could it even be possible? A woman who had been taught not to love was falling in love with this man and his beautiful song.  
  
She breathlessly spoke to him, amazed with how different she felt being held by his arms than all the arms that had held her before. She was safe here, and filled with the warmth of love. "Oh...I can't believe it. I'm in love. I'm in love with a young, handsome talented Duke."  
  
Brady's eyes widened in surprise. "Duke?"  
  
Chloe laughed softly and nodded. "Oh...not that the title's important of course"  
  
"I'm not a duke." Brady shook his head in confusion.  
  
"Not a duke?"  
  
"I'm a writer."  
  
Chloe dropped her chin with shock. This definitely explained a lot. This amazing man in front of her was not a duke, not the one she was supposed to be with tonight.  
  
"A writer?"  
  
"Yes, a writer."  
  
Chloe let go of him and walked a few steps away, crossing her arms angrily. Zidler would be furious, the Duke would be furious. She would have to forget about the magic, the stars and the moon, all of it. This was not what was supposed to happen.  
  
Brady looked at her nervously. She was obviously disappointed with something. He didn't think it to be his poetry, not by the way she had looked at him as he sang. Perhaps, it was just him that disappointed her. Brady, the penniless writer.  
  
"Well... Toulouse..."  
  
Chloe threw her hands up in frustration. "Toulouse? Oh no! You're not another of Toulouse's oh-so-talented, charmingly Bohemian, tragically impoverished protégés"  
  
Brady shrugged slightly and stammered. "Well, you might say that."  
  
"Oh! I am going to KILL HIM! I'm going to kill him..." Another one of Toulouse's ploys to get to her and Zidler. She should have figured. No Duke she had ever met would be that talented and wonderful.  
  
"The Duke." She muttered it to herself and then walked towards the door, opening it slightly. Zidler was on the other side with a man who must have been the real Duke Phillip. She shouted with surprise and slammed the door shut immediately. "THE DUKE!"  
  
"The Duke?"  
  
She looked at Brady with fear in her eyes. "Hide! Out the back!"  
  
Brady looked around for a place to hide, not finding anything. He kneeled on the floor and Chloe threw up the sides of her dress so that he could hide behind her, as the door opened and Zidler walked in with Phillip behind him.  
  
"My dear, are you decent for the Duke? Where were you?"  
  
"I-I-I... I was waiting."  
  
"Dearest Duke, allow me to introduce Mademoiselle Chloe."   
  
Chloe nervously smiled at him, doing her best to fake sincerity. "Monsieur, how wonderful of you to take time out of your busy schedule to visit."  
  
The corners of Phillip's mouth turned up in a nervous smile of his own. He was handsome, yes, but not even close to as handsome as the writer who was quickly making his way from behind her dress to behind the table filled with food and drinks. In fact, Chloe thought to herself that he was downright creepy with his pencil-thin mustache, and hair that was a little too long, and his strange beady little eyes.   
  
"The pleasure I fear will be entirely mine, my dear."   
  
Zidler smiled proudly and quickly went to make his exit. "I'll leave you two squirrels to get better acquainted. Ta-ta!"  
  
Phillip reached for his hand, planting a kiss on top of it. It made a chill run up her spine, but not a good kind of chill. There was something about this Duke that was a bit off-kilter. "A kiss on the hand may be quite continental."  
  
Chloe grinned and slipped her hand out of his. "But diamonds are a girl's best friend."   
  
"After tonight's pretty exertions on the stage, you must surely be in need of some refreshment my dear."  
  
Phillip moved towards the table where Brady was hiding, and Chloe jumped in fear. "DON'T!"   
  
Phillip turned back to her and she attempted to play it off, trying to distract his attention from Brady's hiding place. "Don't... Don't you just love the view? Hmmm?"   
  
"Charming."  
  
He turned back to the table again, and Chloe wracked her brain for another distraction. He could not find the writer here, it would most certainly cause a disaster. She grabbed on to him, turning him around from the table again.  
  
"Oh! I feel like dancing." Chloe purred sexily at him and began dancing around the room.   
  
"Would you like a glass of champagne?" This duke was, if nothing else, persistent. He turned back to the table yet again, and Chloe shouted out to keep him from looking in Brady's direction.   
  
"NO! It's a little bit funny..."   
  
"What is?"  
  
"This..." Chloe was at a loss, trying to remember the words that Brady had sung so well to her just minutes ago. She looked over Phillip's shoulder and saw the writer pop up, and he mouthed the words to her. *Feeling*  
  
Chloe nodded and looked back at Phillip. "Feeling inside..."  
  
Her eyes darted to Brady once again and he continued mouthing the words to her, as she quickly repeated them to Phillip. "I'm not one of those who can easily... Hide."  
  
Chloe threw herself to her knees, gazing up at Phillip, as she motioned for Brady to come out from behind the table with one hand. "I know I don't have much money, but if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both can live."  
  
Chloe opened Phillip's legs and looked through them at Brady, trying to mime to him that this was his best opportunity for escape. She looked back up at Phillip and sang softly to him.  
  
***I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind.   
That I put down in words,   
How wonderful life is now you're in the world.***   
  
Chloe stood and smiled, Phillip was obviously enticed by her words. "That's very beautiful."   
  
"It's from "Spectacular, Spectacular." Suddenly with you here, I finally understood the true meaning of those words." Out of Phillip's line of sight, Chloe pointed for Brady to make his exit now. "How wonderful life is now you're in the world."  
  
Phillip stared at her in confusion. "And what meaning is that my dear?"  
  
Brady quietly opened the door that led into the hallway to exit. But, he caught a look at the Duke's lackey, Warner standing guard outside. Chloe kept her smile plastered on, but inside she was anxiously trying to find a way for Brady to escape. And, now she knew the front door wasn't going to cut it.  
  
She grabbed Phillip by the arms and threw herself on the bed, pulling him down on top of her. "NO, NO, NO! Duke, don't you toy with my emotions. You-you must know the effect you have on women. LET'S MAKE LOVE! You want to make love don't you? I knew you felt the same way! Oh, oh Phillip!"  
  
As she was doing that, Brady had quickly moved across the floor towards the window exit. He paused to look at her, his eyes pleading with her not to make love to the Duke tonight. Brady was powerfully in love with this woman, and his feelings were so strong that he could hardly explain it.  
  
Chloe caught his glance, and looked back towards Phillip. She knew it was her duty to do so, but no part of her wanted to sleep with this man. Her heart was now and forever held by the man with the beautiful poetry and the soul to match. "Yes, you're right, Phillip. We should wait, until opening night."  
  
Brady looked at her with satisfaction written all over his face. He knew that she felt it too, the magic between them that had occurred her tonight.  
  
Phillip stared at her strangely. "What? Wait?"  
  
Chloe nodded enthusiastically and pushed him away. "There's a power in you that scares me. You should go."  
  
"Go? But I just got here."   
  
Chloe stood and the duke followed. She laid her hand on his chest and pushed him towards the door. "Oh yes, but we'll see each other everyday during rehearsal. We must wait; we must until opening night."  
  
She smiled at him and pushed him through the door, quickly closing it on him. Chloe turned towards Brady and stared at him frantically. "Do you have any idea what would happen if you were to be found?"  
  
He walked towards her and she looked at him, a thing sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead. She suddenly gasped, and once again felt the darkness close in. Chloe passed out, and Brady caught her in his arms.  
  
"Oh... Oh my God. Chloe? Hello? Wake up... Maybe I'll just put you on the bed."  
  
Brady gently carried her to the bed laying her in front of him. He tried to shake her tenderly, hoping that she would wake up. The door opened and Phillip walked in as Brady was leaning over Chloe's unconscious form on the bed.  
  
"I forgot my hat..." Phillip gasped and stared at them in shock. "Foul play?"   
  
***  
(to be continued...)  
  
If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend that you do. It's way better than how I'm writing this version.  
  
I know, everybody is wondering how I'm possibly going to do a Happy-Broe twist when I already stated in the first chapter that Chloe is dead. But... I am doing it. In fact, the last chapter is practically written already, and it will be interesting. I hope. Considering how crappily I am writing the rest of these chapters, the last chapter should be the best chapter of them all. LOL.  
  
-Hope Grace- 


	4. Spectacular, Spectacular

Chapter Four: Spectacular, Spectacular  
  
Brady's head turned and he looked at Phillip fearfully. Surely, there was no way to play this off as an innocent meeting. He nervously stammered, attempting to find the words to make up an excuse. But, for such a brilliant writer, he had a hard time saying anything at all.  
  
"She... I... She... and..."  
  
Chloe woke up, still a bit groggy from fainting and turned to see Phillip inside her room. "Oh... Phillip."  
  
Phillip's beady blue eyes narrowed as he tried to keep his anger down to a low boil. "It's a little bit funny. This feeling inside?"  
  
He repeated her words from earlier, but gave them an entirely different meaning. That funny feeling wasn't love, it was anger and jealousy.  
  
Chloe tried to compliment him to ease his anger. "Beautifully spoken, Phillip. Yes, let me introduce you to the writer."  
  
Chloe patted Brady on the shoulder and he smiled uneasily at Phillip. Phillip obviously wasn't buying it. "The writer?"  
  
Chloe nodded and stood from her position on the bed. "Yes, oh yes... we were... rehearsing."  
  
"Oh no, no, no... You expect me to believe that in the arms of another man, scantilly clad, in the middle of the night inside an elephant, you were *rehearsing*?"  
  
Chloe cringed slightly. It did look slightly suspicious, that was true. Thankfully, Toulouse and the others had been watching from the balcony and quickly came out of their hiding places. Just in time to save Chloe and Brady.  
  
Toulouse smiled at her knowingly. "How's the rehearsal going? Shall we take it from the top, my queen?"  
  
Satie, the pianist went over to Chloe's piano and played an awful sounding chord. "Oh, I hope the piano is in tune!"  
  
The Argentinean apologized for their lateness, and the Doctor tried to offer Phillip a drink, as Chloe and Brady breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.   
  
Across the way, Zidler was looking through his telescope and spotted the ruckus that was going on inside the elephant. He stood and immediately ran out of the building towards Chloe's apartment.   
  
Chloe smiled in appreciation and spoke with false sincerity to Phillip. "When I spoke those words to you before, you filled me with such inspiration. Yes, I realized how much work we had to do before tomorrow, so I called everyone together for an emergency rehearsal."  
  
Phillip was starting to understand, but still had some doubts. "If you're rehearsing, where's Zidler?"   
  
Chloe laughed it off and patted him on the arm. "Oh no, we wouldn't bother Harold."  
  
The door to her room burst open and Harold came through breathlessly, immediately apologizing to the duke. "My dear Duke, I'm most terribly sorry."  
  
Chloe shouted with surprise, still faking as if this was all planned and thanking her lucky stars that the Duke was fooled thusfar. "Harold! You made it. It's all right, Phillip knows all about the emergency rehearsal."  
  
"Emergency rehearsal?"   
  
"Hmmm... Yes... to incorporate the Duke's artistic ideas. You see, Harold, the cat's out of the bag. Yes, Phillip's already a big fan of our new writer's work." Chloe pointed towards Brady and then gave Zidler a meaningful look, making sure to emphasize the last word in her sentence. "That's why he's so keen to *invest*."  
  
"Invest?" Zidler looked at her questioningly and then suddenly realized exactly what was going on. "Invest! Oh yes, well invest! You can hardly blame me for trying to hide our..."  
  
He had never seen Brady before in his entire life. If Chloe wanted him to write the show, then he would certainly trust her opinion. But, he realized he had no idea what the young writer's name was.   
  
Toulouse jumped in, finishing Zidler's sentence for him. "Brady..."   
  
"Brady."   
  
Phillip nodded in understanding. "I'm way ahead of you Zidler."   
  
Zidler wrapped an arm around Phillip's shoulder, trying to get him out of the room and over to the office to sign on the dotted line. "My dear Duke, why don't you and I go to my office to peruse the paper work."   
  
"What's the story?"   
  
"The story?"   
  
Phillip's eyes narrowed again, clearly becoming impatient with Zidler and his bohemians. "Well if I'm going to invest, I need to know the story. "  
  
Zidler paused awkwardly. He certainly didn't know what the story was, he had only just now found out the writer's name. "Oh yes, well the story's about... Toulouse?"   
  
Toulouse gave him a look that meant 'why me?'. "Ugh... The story-the story's about it's- it's about um..."   
  
Brady's eyes widened and he interjected loudly. "It's about love!"   
  
Phillip stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Love?"   
  
"It's about love, overcoming all obstacles." Brady looked at Chloe with a slight smile. She tried to look away from him, but couldn't. The man with those bright, optimistic blue eyes had a hold on her that she just couldn't explain.   
  
Toulouse clapped his hands together excitedly, happily shouting. "And it's set in Switzerland!"   
  
Phillip looked at him disappointedly. "Switzerland?"   
  
Zidler shook his head, also disapproving of the setting. "It's not in Switzerland!"   
  
Brady looked around the room for inspiration, spying a statue of the Hindi God, Ganesha in the corner. "India! India! It's set in India! And there's a courtesan..."  
  
He glanced towards Chloe as he spoke his next words, and she smiled at him sweetly. "The most beautiful courtesan in all the world..."  
  
Brady paced as he continued the story, making sure to emphasize the words 'evil maharajah' as he looked into Phillip's eyes. "But her kingdom's invaded by and evil Maharajah. Now, in order to save her kingdom, she has to seduce the evil Maharajah. But on the night of the seduction, she mistakes a penniless... a penniless..."  
  
Brady paused, trying not to point at himself. "A penniless sitar player for the evil Maharajah and she falls in love with him."  
  
He looked towards Chloe again, the words of his story having more meaning than Phillip even knew. He stared into her wide blue eyes as he tried to explain himself. "He wasn't trying to trick her or anything. But he was dressed as a Maharajah because... he's appearing in a play."  
  
The Argentinean grabbed the sitar out of the corner, and gently strummed it. "I will play the penniless tango dancing sitar player. I sing like an angel and I DANCE... like the devil..."   
  
Phillip seemed intrigued and questioned them curiously. "And... and--and what happens next?"   
  
Brady continued, the ideas coming endlessly now. "Well, the penniless sitar player and the courtesan, they have to hide their love from the evil Maharajah."   
  
Satie grabbed the sitar from the Argentinean and threw in his own idea. "The penniless sitar player's sitar is magical. It can only speak the truth."  
  
Toulouse hopped forward enthusiastically and grabbed the sitar from Satie. "And - and I will play the magical sitar."   
  
He looked towards Chloe and strummed the sitar, speaking the truth. "You... are beautiful."  
  
Toulouse moved to Zidler and frowned as he strummed. "You are ugly."  
  
He looked at the Duke strangely. "And you are..."  
  
The rest of the group rushed forward covering Toulouse's mouth with their hands to shut him up. Heaven only knows what a truth-speaking magical sitar would have to say to a weasel like Phillip.  
  
Phillip nodded in understanding, clearly involved in the story. "And so the sitar gives the game away."   
  
Everyone nodded their agreement, shouting a chorus of 'yes' at him.  
  
Zidler looked toward Brady encouragingly. "Tell him about the can-can!"  
  
Brady stood in front of Phillip and picked up from Zidler's cue. "The tantric can-can... It's an..."  
  
Brady didn't have a chance to finish. Zidler was caught up in the enthusiasm and pushed him out of the way to continue his thought. "It's an erotic spectacular scene that captures the thrusting, violent, vibrant, wild bohemian spirit that this whole production embodies, Duke."   
  
Phillip looked at with interest. "What do you mean by that?"   
  
Zidler over-dramatized his words, emphasizing them for maximum effect. "The show will be a magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzlement, a sensual ravagement, it will be..."   
  
Satie played a few opening chords on the piano and Zidler began singing to Phillip."  
  
***Spectacular, spectacular.   
No words in the vernacular   
can describe his great event  
You'll be dumb with wonderment  
Returns are fixed at ten percent  
You must agree, that's excellent,   
and on top of your fee...***  
  
The rest of the people in the room began singing along with Zidler. Enthusiastically describing the show for Phillip's eager eyes.   
  
***You'll be involved artistically.   
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!   
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!   
  
Elephants! Bohemians! Indians! And courtesans!   
Acrobats! And juggling bears! Exotic girls!   
Fire-eaters! Muscle Men! Contortionists! Intrigue, danger, and romance!  
Electric lights, machinery, powered with electricity!   
  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!   
  
Spectacular, spectacular!   
No words in the vernacular,   
can describe this great event,   
You'll be dumb with wonderment.   
  
The hills are alive, with the sound of music...  
  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!***  
  
The music paused, and Phillip looked at them anxiously. "Yes, but what happens in the end?"   
  
They all ran around the room, setting themselves up for a miniature version of the story. Chloe as the courtesan, the Argentinean as the sitar player and Zidler as the evil maharaja. Brady took his place at the edge of the mock stage and narrated the tale for the duke.  
  
***Ahem! The courtesan and sitar man, are pulled apart by an evil plan...***   
  
Chloe looked towards him, just one glance speaking volumes between him.   
  
***But in the end she hears his song...***  
  
Brady smiled in understanding, there was denying that he shared a connection with this woman that could only be described as love.  
  
***And their love is just too strong.***   
  
Phillip interjected with his off-kilter, off-key singing.  
***It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside...***  
  
A strange, horrified silence fell amongst the others for just a moment. But, they quickly returned to what they were doing, trying to shake off just how unsettling the duke's presence was.  
  
***So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!***   
  
Brady continued the next part of the story.   
***Sitar player's secret song helps them flee the evil one...  
Though the tyrant rants and rails, it is all to no avail!***  
  
Zidler jumped in as the maharajah, his voice burly and sinister sounding as he shouted at them. "I am the evil maharajah! You will not escape!"   
  
Chloe looked at him enthusiastically. "Oh Harold, no one could play him like you could!"   
  
Zidler grinned and winked at her. "No one's going to!"   
  
***So exciting, we'll make them laugh we'll make them cry!  
So delighting --!***  
  
The group was interrupted again by another question from Phillip. "And in the end should someone die?"  
  
There was another awkward silence, but they quickly jumped back to finishing their song.  
  
** So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!   
So delighting it will run for 50 years...!***  
  
The song ended and everyone came to a posed position, waiting for a reaction from Phillip.   
  
He looked a bit uneasy, but impressed by it all. "Generally... I like it..."  
  
They all began jumping and cheering, crowding around the duke in appreciation. Congratulations were in order for everyone, and Toulouse proclaimed loudly that the Bohemian Revolution had truly arrived.  
  
***  
  
Yeah, I know this chapter is kind of choppy and bad, but it's hard to write because of all the different singing parts. Musicals are hard to write as a short story, as I have recently found out. If it wasn't so extremely important to the story, I could have cut it out. But, it is very important.  
  
I have also found out that I know how to spell the word 'spectacular', but I have a hard time typing it. Weird.  
  
-Hope- 


	5. All You Need is Love

Musicals are hard to make into short stories. (How many more times will I have to mention that before this is over? LOL)  
  
So, for the sake of my own sanity -- this chapter will have special markings for the lyrics.  
--- Chloe sings.  
+++ Brady sings.  
*** They sing together.  
  
I hope that makes sense, because it's important to know who is singing what in this particular chapter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Five: All You Need is Love  
  
Above Brady's head, in the apartment upstairs, a celebration raged on through out the night. The bohemians and the dancers from the club celebrated the beginning of the bohemian revolution. But, Brady did not take part. He sat in his own apartment trying to write, but all he could think about was her. The way she smiled, the glow in her eyes, her beauty, her spirit, the secret part of her soul that she hid from everyone.  
  
He walked away from the typewriter and stood at his window. Brady could see her from his window, she was sitting in front of her vanity mirror staring into it. He wondered what she saw when she looked in to the mirror. Did she see what the others saw? A beautiful woman who sold herself to survive. Or, was she seeing what Brady saw? A woman who deserved far more than the lot she had been given in life. A woman who deserved to be more than just wanted and desired, she deserved to be loved.  
  
+++How wonderful life is...+++   
  
He wondered if she was thinking about him too. If she was feeling the same as he was. Although she was the kind of woman who wasn't allowed to love, who would probably claim she didn't know what love is, he knew she had felt it too. There was something magical happening between them on this night, and Brady knew that she was truly the mate to his soul. He had known it from the first moment he had laid eyes upon her. But, a woman like Chloe would probably need more convincing. Brady was a dreamer who believed in love, but Chloe was a woman who had been hurt by men her entire life. It wasn't easy for her to open her heart to anyone, because she wasn't sure if she had one anymore.  
  
But, all Brady wanted was to keep her safe, protect her and give her his love. And he sensed that she needed him desperately.  
  
+++Now you're in the world...+++  
  
Chloe stood from her vanity table and turned around. She could see him across the street, staring out the window of his apartment. His words kept echoing in her head over and over. "It's about love! It's about love overcoming all obstacles."  
  
But what did love mean to her? It wasn't something she was allowed to have, but it was something that she secretly desired. Chloe had always wanted to know the rush of a kiss from a person who truly cared for her. She longed for the day when someone could look at her and not just see her as the beautiful courtesan. The day when someone would see who she was on the inside, the woman who hurt, who sometimes cried, and most of all wanted to know one moment of true happiness.  
  
She stood out on her balcony, staring into Brady's window. Her heart wanted to love this man, but her brain knew that love could only bring heartache and suffering to both of them.  
  
Chloe saw him sit down at his typewriter, and he saw her too. Their eyes communicated volumes even at this distance. He tried to focus on his typewriter, on his work, anything to keep his mind off her. Chloe leaned up against the edge of the balcony and kept her eyes glued on Brady.  
  
---I follow the night  
Can't stand the light  
When will I begin to live again?  
One day I'll fly away!---  
  
Brady turned his gaze back to her, and she wondered if he could hear her song all the way across the street.  
  
---Leave all this to yesterday...  
What more could your love do for me?  
When will love be through with me?---  
  
Brady stood and pushed his chair in. The writing would have to wait, he could not possibly focus on anything but her tonight. He walked towards his window, observing her as she sang out to the night sky.   
  
---Why live life from dream to dream  
And dread the day when dreaming ends?---  
  
+++How wonderful life is now you're in the world.+++  
  
He just had to see her again. Brady had to find out if she felt for him the way he felt for her. Did the magic he saw in her eyes mean that she loved him too? He quickly left his apartment and dashed across the street, climbing up the side of the elephant to find her.  
  
Chloe walked up the steps to the roof of her apartment, and continued her song. Hoping that the heavens above could grant her wishes for her.  
  
---One day I'll fly away  
Leave all this to yesterday  
Why live life from dream to dream   
And dread the day when dreaming ends?  
One day I'll fly away...  
Fly, fly away.---   
  
Chloe sighed softly, allowing the wind to blow her long dark hair away from her face. She turned around and jumped with shock, coming face to face with Brady.  
  
He apologized nervously. "Sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I saw -- I saw your light on. I climbed up the..."   
  
Chloe looked at him in confusion. "What?"  
  
Brady tried to think of something to say. So, instead of saying what was really on his mind, he stammered out a different reply. "I couldn't sleep and... I -- I wanted to thank you for helping me get the job."  
  
Chloe had a feeling that wasn't really why he was there, but she went along with it anyway. Hoping to quickly escape the glare of his blue eyes, eyes that were more beautiful than any song. "Oh, of course. Yes...Toulouse -- Toulouse was right. You are -- you're very talented. It's going to be a wonderful show. Anyway, I -- I better go because we -- we both have a big day tomorrow."  
  
Chloe smiled politely and turned to leave, but Brady pleaded with her to stop. "Wait... No, please wait."   
  
Chloe turned around and looked at him curiously. He had to know, he would not be able to sleep until he knew why the air between them was so alive with electricity. "Before when we were -- when we... When you thought I was the Duke, and you said that you loved me. And I -- I wondered if..."   
  
"If it was just an act?"   
  
"Yes..."  
  
Chloe felt terrible about what she was going to have to say to him. She had no other choice. Her head nodded confidently, although her heart disagreed with her actions. "Of course."   
  
Brady looked completely crestfallen, like a child who was just told that his puppy had died. "Oh. It just felt real..."   
  
Chloe sighed softly, her blue eyes turning dark as she tried to turn him away. "Brady, I'm a courtesan, I'm paid to make men believe what they want to believe."  
  
Brady nodded in understanding. He was, after all, a penniless writer, clearly not someone that a woman like Chloe could ever dream of being in love with. "Yes... Silly of me, to think that you could fall in love with someone like me..."  
  
Chloe laughed softly. He thought it was because of him, but it wasn't. It was because of what she was. "Oh... I can't fall in love with anyone."   
  
"Can't fall in love? But a life without love... That's terrible!"  
  
She stared at him with shock. Chloe had spent her entire life without love, how was she to know that not having it would be terrible. "No, being on the street, that's terrible."   
  
Brady shook his head insistently. Love, above all things, was what made life worth living. "No! Love... is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love.   
  
Chloe rolled her eyes, he certainly did love the idea of being in love. "Please, don't start that again."   
  
+++All you need is love!+++   
  
Chloe crossed her arms over her chest, not understanding how someone could get by on only love. "A girl has got to eat."   
  
+++All you need is love!+++   
  
"Or, she'll end up on the street!"   
  
+++All you need is love...+++   
  
The writer was naive, optimistic, and believed in love, the kind of person that Chloe had never been. She looked into his eyes sadly and returned his song with her own.  
  
---Love is just a game...---   
  
+++I was made for loving you baby,   
You were made for loving me!+++   
  
Chloe shook her head, there was no love for her, only sex.   
  
---The only way of loving me baby is to pay a lovely fee.---   
  
Brady looked at her pleadingly, hoping to convince her that just because she didn't understand, love did exist.   
  
+++Just one night, give me just one night!+++   
  
---There's no way 'cause you can't pay.---   
  
Brady circled around her. He was most definitely persistent, and Chloe couldn't help but laugh at his wide-eyed insistence.   
  
+++In the name of love,   
One night in the name of love.+++   
  
---You crazy fool, I won't give into you.---  
  
Chloe turned away from him and tried to walk away, but he stopped her from going.  
  
+++Don't... leave me this way.+++  
  
Chloe stopped in her tracks and turned back towards him. She realized that to him this wasn't a joke, he was dead serious.  
  
+++I can't survive without your sweet love,   
Oh baby...don't leave me this way.+++  
  
---You think that people   
Would have had enough of silly love songs.---  
  
+++I look around me and I see it isn't so...+++   
  
---Some people want to fill the world   
With silly love songs.---   
  
+++Well, what's wrong with that?   
I'd like to know...+++  
  
Brady leaned in closer to her, gently brushing her cheek with the tips of his fingers. He moved in as if to kiss her, but instead, continued his song.  
  
+++Cause here I go again!+++   
  
Brady ran up to the highest point on the room, poised at the round top of the elephant's head. Chloe cringed nervously, shouting for him to get down.   
  
+++Love lifts us up where we belong!   
Where eagles fly, on a mountain high!+++  
  
Brady got down from the head of the elephant and walked back towards Chloe, who was shaking her head in disagreement.   
  
---Love makes us act like we are fools.   
Throw our lives away for one happy day.---   
  
+++We can be heroes! Just for one day...+++   
  
Chloe turned away from him, heading down the stairs towards her apartment.   
  
---You, you will be mean.---  
  
+++No I won't!+++  
  
---And I... I'll drink all the time!---   
  
The two of them made their way back in to her room and stood in front of the large window.  
  
+++We should be lovers!+++   
  
---We can't do that.---   
  
+++We should be lovers! And that's a fact.+++  
  
Her lips said one thing to him, but her heart and soul were saying something else. She did love him, and here in front of him at this moment, she finally knew what the definition of the word 'love' was.   
  
---Though nothing would keep us together...---  
  
+++We could steal time...+++   
  
***Just for one day.***   
  
Chloe and Brady stood face to face with each other, singing from their hearts, two sets of blue eyes locked in one moment together.  
  
***We can be heroes, forever and ever.   
We can be heroes forever and ever.   
We can be heroes just because...***   
  
They moved closer to each other. Brady could have sworn that the walls around them dissolved, and fireworks started going off over their heads.   
  
+++I... will always love you!+++   
  
---I...!---   
  
***Can't help loving...***  
  
+++You...+++   
  
---How wonderful life is...---   
  
***Now you're in the world...***   
  
Chloe smiled sweetly at him. No matter how much she resisted it, he had broken down the walls she had built around her heart. It didn't matter what the costs were or what obstacles they would have to overcome, love had to be worth it. She sighed softly and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're going to be bad for business, I can tell."   
  
Brady smiled back at her and captured her lips with his, embracing her tightly. They kissed and held on to each other for what seemed like an eternity, as the heavens above sang out with joy.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
This is both easy and hard to write at the same time if that's possible. Easy because the plot, characters and the dialogue are pretty much in place. But, very hard to transfer a movie that is extremely reliant on sound and visuals into just black words on a white background. (And I really don't consider myself a visual writer, so I apologize for not being able to capture the true spirit of Moulin Rouge.)  
  
Thanks for reading! Please leave feedback!!  
  
  
-Hope- 


	6. The Sparrow

Sorry it took so long for another chapter. I had the previously mentioned computer problems and I was really engrossed in writing my Mason fic. Thanks for being patient.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okay, just another thing to remember for the lyrics to the songs.  
For this chapter only:  
+++ Phillip sings.  
--- Chloe sings  
((( Zidler sings  
*** Zidler/Phillip sing together.  
  
Confused yet??  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Six: The Sparrow  
  
As Brady and Chloe were inside the elephant confessing their love to each other, and spending the rest of the night wrapped happily in each other's arms, Harold Zidler was in his office at the Moulin Rouge cutting a deal with Duke Phillip. Zidler quickly realized that he was getting much more than he bargained for in Phillip. Not only did he have a terrible temper, he was jealous and possessive to a very disturbing degree. Plus, he lacked all traces of charm or personality. The only thing he really had to offer was money and a fairly meaningless title.  
  
Phillip sat across the desk from Zidler, nervously fidgeting. His hat was sitting his lap and he anxiously tapped it as he gave instructions to Zidler regarding his financing of Spectacular, Spectacular. A stage production that would require the Moulin Rouge to become a real theatre, and not just a nightclub.  
  
"Conversion of the Moulin Rouge into a theater will cost a fantastic sum of money, Zidler. So in return I would require a contract that... umm... binds Chloe to me, exclusively. Naturally, I shall require some security; I shall require the deeds to the Moulin Rouge."  
  
Zidler's eyes widened in surprise and he shook his head uneasily. Phillip wanted the deed to his club, his home... The place that he had built from nothing so long ago. The contract for Chloe, he understood, especially with the kind of money the Duke was investing. But, if the show was not successful and Phillip did not make his investment back, the club would belong to him. Zidler just didn't know if he could give it up.  
  
"My dear Duke...I--"  
  
Phillip's voice rose with anger, his eyes narrowing as he insisted on things going his way or no way. "Pish!... Don't think that I'm naive, Zidler. I shall hold the deeds to the Moulin Rouge. And if there are any shenanigans, my manservant Warner, will deal with it in the only language that you underworld show-folk people understand. Chloe will be mine."   
  
He was gripping the hat in his lap tightly, practically ripping it to shreds. His voice rose to a furious level, clearly he was not someone to be messed with. "It's not that I'm a jealous man. I JUST DON'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE TOUCHING MY THINGS!"  
  
Zidler looked at him with a touch of fear in his eyes. "I understand, completely Duke Phillip."  
  
Phillip smiled in satisfaction. "Now that we have an understanding, it would appear that you have the means to transform your beloved Moulin Rouge into a theatre. And, I shall woo Chloe over supper tomorrow night."  
  
If Zidler didn't know better, he would have sworn that Phillip was snarling.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
(Next Day - First Rehearsal)  
  
Harold Zidler stood in front of the assembled cast of bohemians and Moulin Rouge dancers. He spoke loudly, bursting with pride over the beginning of 'Spectacular, Spectacular' and the remodeling of the Moulin Rouge into a theatre.  
  
"We will have created the world's first completely modern, entirely electric, totally Bohemian, all singing, all dancing, STAGE SPECTACULAR!"  
  
Chloe spotted Brady across the room and smiled at him like she was a schoolgirl with a crush. Never had she felt this way about anyone or anything the way she felt about him. He made her feel younger, and innocent, as if her past sins didn't matter and were washed away by just one kiss.   
  
Brady smiled back at her. They had spent the night together, and then parted as they watched the sun kissing the edge of the horizon, coming up over the buildings of Paris in the distance. They had truly made love -- something that Chloe could have never clamed before. She had called what she did with those other men 'making love', but it never was. What she created last night with Brady was truly making love, each touch a message from their hearts and souls.  
  
Duke Phillip spotted Chloe's smile from where he was sitting, assuming that the lovely lady was smiling at him. And, she most definitely should be if she wasn't. He was certainly paying enough for her company. Phillip was anxious for tonight, he had a dinner planned for them in the Gothic tower, a dinner that was only a tool to seduce her and truly make her his.  
  
The assembled group was startled out of their chairs when a wrecking ball crashed through the wall behind Harold. But, in his trademark form, Zidler just laughed it off.  
  
He proudly pronounced to all those before him, "The show must go on!"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Indeed, the show would go on. But, despite Zidler's demands, Chloe would not attend Phillip's supper that night or any of the following nights. Instead, she spent every free moment away from the Moulin Rouge and at Brady's humble apartment. Sometimes they would rehearse, sometimes they would make love, and sometimes they would just hold to each other in the silence, or talk about their hopes and dreams, their future.  
  
On this particular day, early in the evening when the sun was still shining outside, she was relaxing as Brady acted out the newly written scenes for the show. Toulouse was in the kitchen, fixing some sort of supper for them all, as Brady flew about his apartment enthusiastically.  
  
Brady spoke in his best impression of the Argentinean, who would be playing the part of the penniless sitar player. "Tell me you don't love me!"   
  
He continued on in his own voice, telling the story. "Mad with jealousy, the evil Maharajah forces the courtesan to make the penniless sitar player believe she doesn't love him."   
  
Toulouse shouted in approval from the kitchen as Chloe was laughing with delight. She had never known someone with such beauty and love in their soul, and enthusiasm for his work.  
  
Brady went to the window and imitated the Argentinean again. "'Thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love!' says the penniless sitar player, throwing money at her feet and leaving the kingdom forever!"  
  
He went to the balcony and mocked like he was going to jump as Chloe shouted for him not to. Toulouse clapped his hands with delight, shouting "Brilliant! Brilliant!" from his place inside the apartment.  
  
Brady came back inside and Chloe was giggling girlishly, echoing Brady's own words from the rooftop of the elephant. "Oh, but a life without love, that's -- that's terrible."   
  
Brady nodded in agreement and took a seat next to her, as she smiled brilliantly at him. Chloe could not remember a time when she had smiled so easily, and felt so comfortable around anyone. He had opened her heart, not just to love but also to happiness and true bliss. He laughed with her and continued the story, "Yes, but the sitar player... with the magical sitar..."  
  
Toulouse came waddling in from the kitchen excitedly. "That's my part, Brady, that's -- that's -- that's my part, Brady. The magical sitar that can only speak the truth says... he says..."  
  
Toulouse struggled to remember the line that Brady had written for him, but Brady gladly picked up the slack. He gently clasped Chloe's hand in his and smiled sincerely at her, reciting the line as he looked in the eyes of his soul mate.  
  
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As the days passed, it had become all too easy for Brady and Chloe to spend time together right under the nose of the completely oblivious Duke Phillip. After all, he was the writer and she was the star of the show. They played off like all the time they spent together was because they were so dedicated to making the show the best it could possibly be.  
  
And Phillip was definitely too much of a fool to be wise to their schemes. He had even nearly caught them locked in an embrace in Chloe's dressing room, but apparently they backed away from each other just in time. He had yet to have his chance to woo Chloe, as she continually cancelled their dinners together.  
  
In fact, the only time that Phillip spent with her, Brady would be there also. He invited her out on picnic lunches, but insisted that Brady come along because they had too much "work" to do. Phillip would attend every rehearsal, but Chloe spent more time stealing glances from her beloved than listening to the Duke prattling on about whatever a bore like him would prattle on about.  
  
At one particular rehearsal, Chloe sat next to the Duke as they observed one of the elaborate dance numbers being rehearsed on the half-built stage. Phillip was rambling on about a piece of land he owned just outside of Paris, or something to that effect. Chloe was not listening, in fact, she never listened to a word he had to say. She was far too focused on Brady and the show.  
  
Brady interrupted by putting his head in between them and smiling. He looked at Chloe, his glance telling her exactly what his words meant. "Mademoiselle Chloe, I haven't quite finished writing that new scene. The...um... 'Will the lovers be meeting at the sitar player's humble abode?' scene. And I wondered if I could work on it with you later tonight."  
  
Phillip glared at the young writer with a mixture of desperation and suspiciousness. He turned back to Chloe, his tone pleading and insistent. "But -- my dear, I've arranged a magnificent supper for us in the Gothic Tower."   
  
Brady tried to backpedal, still fearing that their affair would be revealed to Phillip. "Well, it's not important. We -- we could work on it tomorrow."  
  
Chloe whipped her head around and looked at Brady with shock. She would do everything in her power to avoid dining with Phillip. He was boring, possessive and downright loathsome. "How dare you? It cannot wait until tomorrow. 'The lovers will be meeting in the sitar player's humble abode.' scene is the *most* important in the production. We'll work on it tonight until I'm completely satisfied."  
  
Brady couldn't help the satisfied grin that spread over his lips. Phillip attempted to interrupt in protest. "But my dear --"  
  
Chloe stood and waved her hand to dismiss him. "Dear Duke, excuse me."  
  
As she walked away, Brady was still grinning. He patted Phillip on the back before leaving. "I'm sorry."  
  
On stage, Zidler was giving instructions to the cast as Brady and Chloe fled off to the balcony of the theatre. "Bright and early tomorrow morning, we'll begin on act two: the lovers are discovered!"   
  
Brady caught up with Chloe in the balcony, high above the fray down below. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and they began kissing passionately. They assumed that nobody could see them, but they had assumed wrong. Zidler spotted them out of the corner of his eye, and felt his anxiousness rising. And, the tension increased tenfold when Phillip came towards him.  
  
"Zidler!"   
  
"My dear Duke, everything is arranged for that special supper in the Gothic Tower tonight."  
  
Phillip snapped at him angrily, frustrated with the lack of attention he was receiving from Chloe. "Oh yes, you might as well eat it yourself, Zidler. Her affections are waning..."   
  
"Impossible!" was what Zidler said, but what he was really thinking was: *Please don't turn around, because then you'll see that you never had her affections to begin with.*  
  
"I understand how important your work is to her, but she's always at it with that damn writer. If I don't see her tonight, I'm leaving!"  
  
Phillip noticed that Zidler was listening but his eyes were on something else, something behind him. He tried to turn and see whatever it was that he was looking at, but Zidler stopped him.   
  
"No! Dear Duke! I'll insist Chloe takes the night off."   
  
Phillip exhaled slowly, trying to keep calm. "All right, all right... eight o'clock then."   
  
Upstairs in the balcony, Brady broke off from the kiss breathlessly and brushed her cheek with his fingers. "You'll come? Tonight?"  
  
Chloe giggled softly and nodded. "Yes..."  
  
"What time?"  
  
Chloe was still laughing, her lipstick was all over his face, and he looked absolutely adorable. "Eight o'clock."  
  
Brady smiled back at her, his blue eyes wide, he looked completely intoxicated with her love. "Promise?"   
  
"Yes!" Chloe waved him off as he headed towards the stairs. "Go!"  
  
She was still giggling girlishly as she watched him walk away. Chloe had been searching for true happiness her entire life, and she had finally found it in this handsome young writer. She sighed softly and turned around, running straight into a grimacing Harold Zidler.  
  
His eyes flashed with anger and fear, knowing that he could lose everything because of Chloe's affections towards Brady. "Are you mad? The Duke holds the deeds to the Moulin Rouge. He's spending a fortune on you. He's given you a beautiful new dressing room. He wants to make you a star. And you're dallying with the writer?"  
  
Chloe shook her head, and did her best to lie to him. "Oh... Harold, don't be ridiculous..."   
  
Zidler shouted at her furiously. "I SAW YOU TOGETHER!"  
  
Chloe's face contorted with worry, and she continued her lies. "It's nothing, It's just an infatuation. It's nothing."   
  
"The infatuation will end. Go to the boy; tell him it's over. The Duke is expecting you in the Tower at eight."  
  
Chloe frowned and watched Zidler walk away. She couldn't do it, it was unfair. She finally had the happiness she had longed for, and Harold was going to force her to give it up. Now that she had one taste of true love, she didn't know if she could go back to her old ways. And she knew, without a doubt, that she could not be with Phillip. Brady loved her, but to Phillip she was just a belonging, a piece of property that he owned. Like a porcelain figure behind a glass case, and nothing more.  
  
She walked across the balcony, the tears flowing freely from her eyes. Her skin felt cold and clammy, and a thin sheen of sweat had broken out on her face. Through her sobs, she sang the lyrics that were in her heart.  
  
---If I should die this very moment...  
I wouldn't fear.   
For I've never known completeness.   
Like being here, wrapped in the warmth of you...  
Loving every breath of you.   
Why live life from dream to dream? And dread the day...---  
  
Chloe gasped loudly and gripped the railing with her hand. She began coughing violently, and could not stop. Her heart filled with fear as once again the blackness closed in around her again. She felt her eyes close and she fainted towards the floor.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Brady waited all night for her to come. He paced over the floors of his apartments until he was too tired to stand. When he tried to lie on his bed and close his eyes, the only thing he saw was her.  
  
Where was she? Had she changed her mind about them? Was she off betraying him with Phillip? So many questions plagued his mind as he waited until late in the night for her to arrive. All the while wondering what possible reasons she could have for standing him up.  
  
But, little did he know in these last fatal days... That a force, darker than jealousy and stronger than love had begun to take hold of Chloe.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Zidler peered through his telescope into the windows of the Gothic Tower. He had hoped to find Chloe and Phillip dining together, but instead saw only the Duke and his servants.  
  
When he realized that Chloe had not shown up, and the Duke was preparing to leave, he dashed out the door. Zidler ran as quickly as his rotund figure would allow him to, rushing to the Gothic Tower, just in time to stop the duke. He wracked his brain for another lie to tell him, and shouted the first thing that came to his head.  
  
"SHE'S CONFESSING!"  
  
Phillip raised both eyebrows doubtfully. "Confessing? What kind of imbecile do you take me for Zidler?"  
  
"She suddenly had a terrible desire to go to a priest and confess her sins."   
  
"What?"   
  
Zidler was a master of deception, able to come up with any kind of lie and tell it without even stumbling over his words. "She wanted to be cleansed of her former life. She says she looks upon tonight as her wedding night."   
  
Phillip looked at him questioningly. "Her wedding night?"   
  
"She's like a blushing bride... She says you make her feel like a..." Zidler searched for the exact word he wanted to use and then smiled slightly. "Virgin."   
  
"Virgin? "  
  
"You know... Touched for the very first time."   
  
Phillip looked to be enticed by the idea of it, and somewhat proud that he had that effect on Chloe. "The first?"   
  
Zidler nodded as he growled over his words, trying to keep Phillip's interest. "She says it feels so good... inside... when you hold her... and you touch her..."   
  
"Like a virgin?"   
  
"She's made it through the wilderness somehow. She's made it through. She didn't know how lost she was, until she found you."  
  
Zidler smiled confidently as the Duke's servants began dancing to the song he sang.  
  
((( She was beat, incomplete. She'd been had! She was sad and blue...   
But you made her feel... Yes you made her feel... Shiny and new!   
Ahh! Like a virgin! Touched for the very first time!   
Like a virgin... Your hearts beat both in time!   
She'll give you all her love! Her fear is fading fast!   
Been saving it all for you! Only love can last!   
She's so fine and she's mine. She'll be yours until the end of time. )))  
  
Zidler grabbed the white lacy tablecloth and put it over his head like a mock wedding veil and continued.  
  
((( 'Cause you made her feel... Yes, you made her feel. She has nothing to hide!   
Like a virgin! Touched for the very first time!   
Like a virgin. Your hearts beat both in time.  
Like a virgin! Feels so good inside!   
When you hold her... And you touch her... and ohh... ohhh! )))  
  
Zidler danced with Phillip, spinning him around the room until he stopped breathlessly. He began singing, each word emphasizing how extremely he possessive he was of Chloe.  
  
+++She's so fine. And she's mine.   
Makes me strong. Yes she makes me burn...   
And her love thawed out... Yes, her love thawed out what was scared and cold!   
  
((( Like a virgin! )))  
  
***Touched for the very first time! Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.***  
  
((( Like a vir-ur-ur-ur-gen! )))   
  
+++When your hearts beat both in time!+++   
  
((( Like a virgin! )))  
  
+++Feels so good inside!+++   
  
((( When you hold her! And you touch her! And you hold her! And you touch her! )))   
  
***La-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhh...! Like a viirrrrrrgeeen!***  
  
Phillip and Zidler ended the song with a flourish dancing over the tabletops, with the servants surrounding them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yes, Harold Zidler's brilliant lies had once again averted a disaster. But, as Harold would learn later, when he came to Chloe's dressing room that night, his lies could not save her from the icy grip of death. She was still unconscious and surrounded by both Marie and the Doctor. He understood now, she would probably be unconscious until the next morning, and had been unable to make her appointment with Phillip.  
  
Zidler looked at the doctor sadly, fearing the worst, and hearing exactly that. The doctor returned his worried expression and broke the bad news to him. "Monsieur Zidler... Mademoiselle Chloe is dying. She has consumption."  
  
Zidler looked at him with shock and misery. He had known it was bad, but he didn't know it was this bad. He walked towards where she was passed out on the couch and tenderly held his hand. "My little sparrow is dying..."  
  
And in that instant, Zidler made a decision. He had to allow Chloe to live out the last days of her life oblivious to what her future held. Let her enjoy it while she still could, and let the show go on.  
  
He looked towards Marie and spoke softly. "She mustn't know, Marie. The show must go on."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I swear, we'll get to the big twist ending eventually... If I don't get distracted by something else in the meantime. :)  
  
Thanks for reading!!  
  
-Hope Grace- 


	7. Come What May

More codes to remember for this chapter:  
+++ Brady sings  
--- Chloe sings  
*** All together now!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Seven: Come What May  
  
(The following morning.)  
  
All night he had waited for her. And for the first time, Brady could feel the cold stab of jealousy shooting through his heart. He had always been too wide-eyed and innocent, never seeing the dark side of life. But, now he understood what it was like to feel fear and jealousy.  
  
Chloe had shown up that morning, explaining her absence away by saying that she had been sick. She did look paler than usual, and tired, but Brady was unsure that she was telling him the truth. He was trusting her with his heart and soul, but he couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had been with Phillip last night after all.   
  
She was sitting on his bed as he sat at his typewriter. He was hardly able to type a word, as all sorts of thoughts ran through his head. He wanted to trust her, wanted to believe her story. She coughed softly and Brady turned to look at her with curiosity.  
  
"Where were you last night?"  
  
"I told you, I was sick."   
  
Brady stood from his desk and sat down on the bed, he glared at her, the jealousy flashing in his blue eyes. "You don't have to lie to me."  
  
Chloe turned away from him, she couldn't bear to look into his soulful eyes when she told him what she had to say. She had finally known true love, and now she had to give it up. Brady had made her feel things she had never felt before, and for once, her music, her acting, none of it was important to her. His love was so much more than all of that. But, still, she had made a promise to Harold and she would have to keep it. For the sake of the show, for the sake of the Moulin Rouge, and for her own safety and future, she would keep her promise.  
  
"We have to end it. Everyone knows. Harold knows. And, sooner or later Phillip will find out too." She turned back to face him and now he turned away from her, facing out towards the window. "On opening night, I have to sleep with Phillip. And the jealousy will drive you mad."  
  
Chloe stood and went to the balcony, a soft breeze coming from the west to blow her hair around her face. Brady left the bed and followed her outside, forcing her to turn around and face him. She could see all of his emotions written on his face, he was desperate to keep her love, and unwilling to give up on her without a fight.  
  
"Then I'll write a song..." Brady lovingly put his hands on her face, pleading with her to listen to him. "And -- and we'll put it in the show. And no matter how bad things get, or whatever happens, whenever you hear it or when you sing it or whistle it or hum it. Well, then you'll know it... it will mean, it will mean we love one another. I won't get jealous.   
  
Chloe knew that he could promise not to get jealous over and over, but those were just words. She could see through the words, and knew that there was no way to avoid the jealousy that would come because of her relationship with Phillip. She did love Brady, but the life she had chosen could now allow her to.  
  
"Things don't work that way, Brady. We have to end it."  
  
She looked away from him sadly, but Brady did not back down. His heart was struck down by her words, not wanting to believe that this could end. He loved her, and no matter what came between them, he always would. Brady was blessed with a gift, a talent for poetry, and he used his gift to tell her what was in his heart.  
  
+++Never knew I could feel like this.   
Like I've never seen the sky before.   
Want to vanish inside your kiss...+++  
  
Chloe turned and smiled at him, nodding in understanding. A secret song to represent their love for each other. One that would stand for all time.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That afternoon, at another rehearsal, the cast stood on stage as Brady gave them the directions for the new scene they were rehearsing. Chloe stood on stage as the courtesan, and the Argentinean took his place as the penniless sitar player. Even though she was supposed to be reading her lines and singing to the Argentinean, Chloe kept her eyes on Brady the entire time. He did the same, smiling at her as the scene they were rehearsing took on even more meaning for both of them.  
  
"Now this new scene is the scene where the... sitar player writes a secret song for the courtesan, so that whatever is happening... However bad things are that they -- they remember their love and then... We can take it from your line, Chloe. So let's take it."  
  
Chloe turned back to the Argentinean and began reciting her lines. "We must be careful."  
  
The Argentinean held on to her hands to reassure her as he replied in character. "Fear not, we will conduct our love affair right under the Maharajah."   
  
Brady smiled again as Chloe's eyes turned back to his loving gaze.  
  
+++Seasons may change, winter to spring...  
But I love you, until the end of time.   
Come what may, come what may.   
I will love you until my dying day.+++   
  
***Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place...   
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace...  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste.  
It all revolves around you.   
And there's no mountain too high,  
No river too wide!   
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side.  
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide. ***  
  
They continued singing to each other, thinking that nobody was noticing that Chloe was singing to Brady and not to the Argentinean.  
  
+++But I love you...+++   
  
---I love you---   
  
+++Until the end...+++   
  
---Until the end---   
  
***Of time... Come what may, come what may, I will love you...***   
  
Nini, one of the less pleasant women who danced at the Moulin Rouge was standing next to Phillip as they watched the rehearsal. She had always been jealous of Chloe's star status, and didn't mind at all pointing out to Phillip what was going on right under his nose. She could tell that there was more to Brady and Chloe's relationship than writer and star. Phillip had been far too oblivious to the truth, and Nini figured he was just an idiot to not see it.  
  
Brady pointed at Toulouse who was halfway dressed in his sitar costume, and told him that this was where his part came in. "The magical sitar falls from the roof and says. 'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.'"   
  
Nini put her arm over Phillip's shoulder and grinned wickedly. "This ending's silly. Why would the courtesan go for the penniless writer?" She mocked as if she hadn't meant to say 'writer', when really she had completely intended to do so. "Whoops! I mean sitar player..."  
  
Nini walked away with a satisfied smile, knowing that Phillip may have been less than bright, but he would certainly catch on now. He watched the cast end the song together, coming to a realization he should have seen weeks ago. From the very beginning, Chloe had been playing him for a fool, spending her time with the writer when she should have been with him.   
  
***Come what May...  
I will love you.   
Come what may, I will love you until my dying day.***  
  
There was a moment of silence as the music ended. Phillip spoke first, his temper beginning to rise to the surface. "I don't like this ending."   
  
Everyone in the room looked at him with surprise and disappointment. Zidler glanced at him worry. "Don't like the ending, my dear duke?"   
  
"Why would the courtesan choose a penniless sitar player over the Maharajah who is offering a lifetime of security? That's real love."   
  
Brady stared at Phillip, thinking that the Duke was truly crazy. How could money or security mean anything in comparison to true love? How could Phillip believed that those things were real or involved love of any form? Was this man plagued with delusions of some sort?  
  
Phillip looked at Brady and continued. "Once the sitar player has satisfied his lust, he will leave the courtesan with nothing. I suggest that in the end the courtesan choose the Maharajah."  
  
Toulouse waddled forward, unbelieving of Phillip's request and insistent on keeping the ending that Brady had written. "But, but, but surely! Surely, that ending does not uphold the Bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and..."  
  
Phillip's temper would not be held at bay, his anger quickly rising and his words cutting off Toulouse before he said the word 'love'. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR RIDICULOUS DOGMA! Why SHOULDN'T the courtesan choose the Maharajah?"  
  
Brady felt his own anger rise, and before he could stop himself he shouted in anger at Phillip. "Because she doesn't love YOU!"  
  
There was a horrified silence that fell across the room, as everyone realized what he had done. He had given himself away, and now everyone knew the truth. The damage was done and no amount of backpedaling could save them now.  
  
Brady stammered with fear, trying to repair what his words would cause. "H-him. Him. Because she doesn't love *him*"  
  
"Oh, I see." Phillip glanced between Brady and Chloe in understanding. He may have been betrayed by the actress and the writer, but he would still have things his way in the end. He was after all, the money behind all of this. He would have it his way, or he would own the Moulin Rouge. "Monsieur Zidler, this ending will be rewritten with the courtesan choosing the Maharajah and WITHOUT the lover's 'secret song'. It will be rehearsed in the morning, ready for the opening tomorrow night."  
  
Zidler was in complete disbelief. He wanted a new ending in less than twenty-four hours? "My... My dear duke. That will be quite impossible!"   
  
Chloe took a deep breath in, but she was trembling inside. She looked towards Zidler, using her acting skills to convince everyone that everything would work out. That there was nothing going on between her and Brady, and that the show would go on as planned. "Harold! The poor duke is being treated appallingly! These silly writers let their imaginations run away with them."  
  
She walked off the stage and stood in front of Phillip. Chloe did her best to make him believe that she loved him. She couldn't let his anger and jealousy ruined everything they had worked so hard for. "Now, why don't you and I have a little supper, and then afterwards we can let Monsieur Zidler know how we prefer the story to end. Hmm?"  
  
Phillip nodded in understanding. He would have her after all. She would be his, and he would make sure of that. No matter what he had to do to keep her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chloe came out of her dressing room, and found Brady waiting for her. He was nearly in tears, and had a look of desperation on his face so sad that it made her heart break. He had promised her he wouldn't get jealous, but he didn't know if he could keep that promise. The thought of Phillip even looking at her made his stomach turn.  
  
He held on to her arms and pleaded with her. "I don't want you to sleep with him."  
  
Chloe frowned, her own tears welling up in her blue eyes. She had no other choice, and she knew that Brady would never understand that. "He could destroy everything... It's for us..."  
  
Brady shook his head and Chloe continued, begging for him to try to understand. "You promised... you promised me you wouldn't be jealous, you pro-..."  
  
Brady couldn't speak, no words could tell her the mixture of jealousy, worry and fear that he was feeling inside. And he didn't need to, it was written all over his face. She did her best to reassure him, whispering her words to him softly. "It will be alright, yes, it will. He -- He's waiting for me..."  
  
She attempted to walk away from him but Brady grabbed and pulled her back, begging her to stay. He pulled her into his arms and barely rasped out just one word, "No..."   
  
Chloe rested her head on his shoulder and sang softly to him, reminding him that even if she had to be with Phillip tonight, it was him that she truly loved.  
  
---Come what may...---  
  
Brady knew there was nothing more he could do. No way to stop what was going to happen. His heart was broken, but he recognized that even their love couldn't keep her from a contract that was made. He whispered softly in ear. "Come what may..."  
  
He quickly let go of her and walked away. He couldn't bear looking into her eyes again, as they were only a reminder of how much he loved her. And, a reminder of things and events that were out of his control. He couldn't stop her, no matter how much he tried. He had to allow her to do what was required of her, no matter how much it tore him up inside.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yes, it's true. I have promised a HAPPY ending for Broe. I really have. And, I *hope* that it will be a huge surprise when you get to it. Or maybe it will predictable. I don't know. It's a mystery. But, at least it will be *happy*.  
  
-Hope- 


	8. El Tango de Roxanne

This chapter cuts a lot between the Roxanne Tango and Chloe/Phillip. Kinda choppy, but there is no other way for me to translate it to words and still keep the same dramatic effect as in the movie.  
  
More codes to remember:  
+++ Brady sings  
((( Argentinean sings  
--- Chloe sings.  
^^^ Phillip (that rat bastard!) sings.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Eight: El Tango De Roxanne  
  
Chloe had gone to the tower to save them all. To save the production, the Moulin Rouge and the Bohemian revolution. And for everyone else, all they could do was wait. Brady sat in the theatre with the rest of the cast and crew, plagued by thoughts of what was going on in the tower just around the corner.  
  
He had promised not to get jealous, but how could he avoid it? Chloe was not someone's property, but she was being treated as such. Brady had tried to show her that she was worth much more than that, but still she had to follow through with her contract.  
  
Brady looked around the theatre, everyone seemed to be sad and afraid. No one liked Phillip much, even with all of his money and power. And, they knew that Chloe was sacrificing her self for all of them. Even with that sacrifice, they still might not have the ending that they all desired. The ending that fit the Bohemian ideals, the ending that Brady wanted, not only in the show, but in reality.  
  
~*~  
  
Chloe took a deep breath in and pushed through the curtain, walking into the large dining room of the gothic tower. She walked towards Phillip, even though just the sight of him made her skin crawl. But, still, she was an actress and if she had to pretend to love him, she would.  
  
She spoke softly and seductively as she neared him. "My dear Phillip. I hope I have not kept you waiting..."  
  
Phillip smiled in appreciation, a smile so unlike that of her beloved Brady. A smile that chilled her to the bone.   
  
~*~  
  
Apparently, Nini felt she hadn't done quite enough damage for one day. She was the cause of Phillip's earlier outburst, and she figured she might as well have some fun taunting the young writer as well. She grinned wickedly and sat on his lap.  
  
Her tone was nothing but mocking. "Don't worry, Shakespeare. You'll get your ending. Once the duke gets his... end... in."  
  
She cackled with delight, and Brady pushed her away from him roughly. She glared at him angrily and started to go towards him. "You keep your hands off me!"  
  
She was pulled back by the Argentinean, not wanting any violence to ensue. Brady was thankful as he certainly wasn't in the mood to be hit by a woman. The Argentinean waved her away and turned to Brady, trying to explain to him what a mistake it had been to fall in love with a woman like Chloe.  
  
"Never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always ends BAD!"   
  
Brady looked around the room guiltily. It wasn't as if he could help it. You can't help who you fall in love with, and even though it was causing so much pain, his love for Chloe was worth all of it.  
  
~*~  
  
Chloe slowly took her long black gloves off, walking towards the roaring fire in the fireplace. She paused for a moment, staring into the flames that were licking the stone walls. As try as she might, she could not keep Brady's face out of her head. The heartbreak and jealousy that had filled his eyes when she last saw him made her cry on the inside, even as she pretended to look happy on the outside.  
  
She continued to allay Phillip's fears as she did earlier, pretending that her relationship with Brady was nothing but professional. "The boy has a ridiculous obsession with me. I mean, I... I indulge his fantasy because he's talented. We need him... but only until tomorrow night..."  
  
Chloe went to her chair at the dining table and sat down. Tomorrow night the show would open and this would all be over, for better or worse. She would probably lose Brady forever, and be stuck playing this game of false love with Phillip for a long time to come. But, at least she had known a taste of true love, if only for a brief shining moment.  
  
Phillip came to her chair and leaned over, kissing her deeply. She wanted to cry, wanted to push him away and run back to the waiting arms of Brady. But, she didn't, she couldn't. She coldly returned his kiss, even though it made her sick to her stomach to do so.  
  
~*~  
  
The Argentinean walked to the middle of the dance floor, shouting out to the assembled cast and crew as he told a story to illustrate his point to Brady.  
  
"We have a dance in the brothels of Buenos Aires. It tells the story of prostitute..."  
  
He pointed at Nini who laughed in response and joined him on the dance floor as he continued. "And a man... who falls in love... with her."  
  
Brady watched with interest, his own anger and jealousy rising within him as each second on the clock ticked by. The musicians started playing the beat to a tango, and the Argentinean danced with Nini as he continued the story.  
  
"First, there is desire. Then, passion. Then... suspicion! Jealousy, anger, betrayal! When love is for the highest bidder, there can be no trust. Without trust there is no love. Jealousy, yes, jealousy, will drive you, will drive you... MAD!"   
  
((( Roxanne...   
You don't have to put on that red light.   
Walk the streets for money...   
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right.   
Roxanne!   
You don't have to wear that dress tonight...   
Roxanne!   
You don't have to sell your body to the night! )))  
  
Brady stood and began walking towards the door, as the rest of the dancers went out on the floor to dance the tango. He had to get out of here, away from the Moulin Rouge, someplace where his jealousy wouldn't plague him so much. But, still, nothing could drive the images of Chloe and Phillip together out of his head.  
  
+++ His eyes upon your face,   
His hand upon your hand,   
His lips caress your skin.   
It's more than I can stand! +++  
  
((( Roxanne! )))  
  
+++ Why does my heart cry? +++  
  
((( Roxanne! )))  
  
+++ Feelings I can't fight! +++  
  
  
Brady walked towards the door, continuing his song as he walked outside and into the street.  
  
+++ You're free to leave me,  
But just don't deceive me,  
And, please believe me when I say I love you! +++  
  
Chocolat had been watching from the balcony, seeing the Argentinean's tango and noticing Brady exiting the Moulin Rouge. He figured where Brady was heading, and knew he had to follow him. If Phillip saw Brady anywhere near the tower, then Brady would be in danger. And not only Brady, but Chloe as well. And, Chocolat had to do something to protect her.  
  
~*~  
  
Chloe was still sitting at the table. She felt so weak and so tired, but she would keep her phony smile plastered on all night if she had to. Phillip stood and came towards her, kneeling at her side.  
  
"When this production succeeds you will no longer be a can-can dancer. You will be an actress. I will make you... a star."  
  
He smiled at her and slowly ran his fingers up her bare arm. He pulled out a diamond necklace and laid it on her neck. It was beautiful, wrapping around her neck and cascading across the top of her chest. "A gift... From this Maharajah to his courtesan."  
  
Chloe stared at him in surprise. The necklace was obviously worth a fortune, but to her it was just another material possession that she didn't need or want. All she really wanted was to be with Brady. The necklace was like a collar you would put around the neck of your dog, it was Phillip's way of marking his territory, telling the world that she belonged to him.  
  
Chloe had to know if what she was doing would be good for the show. She had to let Brady have his ending, especially after everything she put him through. "And... And the ending?"  
  
Phillip smiled from one corner of his mouth. What did he care about the ending to the show? He didn't care, not when he had the ending he wanted in reality. "Let Zidler keep his fairy tale ending..."   
  
~*~  
  
((( Roxanne! You don't have to put on that red light! )))  
  
+++ Why does my heart cry? +++  
  
Brady had walked down the street towards the tower, not even realizing how he got there. His mind was so filled with worry, that it had propelled him towards where she was. He stood in the courtyard, and looked up towards the balcony. He saw her standing there alone, without Phillip, but she did not see him.  
  
((( Roxanne! You don't have to wear that dress tonight! )))  
  
+++ Feelings I can't fight... +++   
  
((( Roxanne! )))  
  
+++ You're free to leave me,  
But just don't deceive me,  
And please believe me when I say I love you. +++  
  
Chloe saw him and locked eyes with him. She could no longer deny what was in her heart. She couldn't lie to Phillip, couldn't pretend anymore. Chloe loved Brady, and she knew she couldn't bring herself to sleep with Phillip. Not tonight, not ever.  
  
She sang softly, hoping that her words would float on the breeze and go towards him. He needed to understand that her love for him had not changed.  
  
---Come what may...   
I will love you...  
Until my dying day...---  
  
Brady could see her, but it didn't matter what she said or what she sang to him. She was up there in the tower with Phillip, and even their love would not change that. He held back his tears and walked away, heading back to his empty apartment.  
  
Phillip came out on to the balcony, walking up behind her and wrapping one arm around her possessively. Chloe just couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't do this, no matter what the cost was. She felt tears fill her eyes and she shook her head.  
  
"No..."  
  
Phillip looked at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion. "NO?"  
  
He looked towards the courtyard and saw Brady walking away, understanding exactly what she meant. "Oh, I see... It's our very own penniless sitar player."   
  
Chloe loosened herself from his grip, the tears already flowing down her face. She walked back inside and Phillip followed closely behind her.  
  
"Phillip..."  
  
"SILENCE!" He growled angrily and grabbed her wrists with his hands forcing her roughly towards the ground. Chloe cried out with fear, gasping for air as he held on to her painfully. "You... made me... believe... that you loved me..."  
  
He let go of one of her wrists and slowly moved to her neck, slipping his finger around the back of the necklace and ripping it off. Chloe felt her heart beat increasing with fear, suddenly realizing exactly what Phillip was capable of. If he couldn't have her willingly, he would take her by any means necessary.  
  
She got away from him for a moment, running around the large dining table, but Phillip caught up with her. He grabbed her from behind and threw her to the cold marble floor. Chloe cried out and began sobbing. If she wasn't so weak and ill, she might have had a chance to get away from him, but she could barely catch her breath.   
  
Phillip yanked her off the floor and stood behind her, his hands roaming up her chest and slipping through the top of her dress to fondle her breasts. Chloe wanted to vomit, she wanted to run, but she was frozen in one place. He moved his hands and began tearing at her dress, and with each rip that left her more exposed, she cried out with fear, her face covered in her own tears.  
  
((( Roxanne! )))   
  
Brady stood in his apartment at the window, looking out into the cold black night. A storm was brewing in the sky, and he sang out, releasing himself of all of his anger and jealousy.  
  
+++ Why does my heart cry?   
Feelings I can't fight.   
Why does my heart cry?  
  
((( You don't have to put on that red light. )))  
  
+++ Feelings I can't fight. +++  
  
((( Roxanne! You don't have to put on that dress tonight. )))  
  
((( ROXANNE!! )))   
  
+++ Roxanne! Feelings I can't fight... +++   
  
Phillip was pushing Chloe towards the bedroom like a man possessed. He was crazed with anger, and Chloe felt her whole body trembling nervously. She had been hurt by so many people, but never in the way that Phillip was planning to hurt her.  
  
^^^ Feelings I can't fight! ^^^  
  
+++ Roxanne! +++   
  
Phillip threw her on to the bed, his intent clear in his eyes. He was planning to rape her, there was absolutely no doubt in her frazzled mind about that. Chloe braced herself for the worst, but was suddenly saved by the appearance of Chocolat. The large man threw his fist into Phillip's face, knocking him to the floor into an unconscious heap.  
  
Chloe let out a cry of relief and Chocolat came to help her off the bed. "Mademoiselle Chloe... Are you okay?"  
  
Through her sobs she nodded slightly. She wasn't okay, but she would be soon. She looked up at him with just one request. "Take me to Brady... Please."  
  
~*~  
  
Brady was still standing at the window when she burst through his apartment door, with Chocolat behind her. She was still sobbing heavily and he could see the fear in her blue eyes. She wrapped her arms around him briefly and then looked him in the eyes. Her words came slower than usual, breaking through in between her sobs.  
  
"I... I couldn't. I couldn't go through with it! I saw you there and I... I felt you in me and I couldn't pretend... And the duke... he saw... he saw and he... and he..."  
  
She couldn't finish explaining to him, she was trembling all over, and crying too hard to speak. She wrapped her arms around him again, and spoke one important phrase clearly. "I love you."   
  
Brady held on to her, trying to reassure her, although part of him wanted to rip Phillip from limb to limb for whatever he did to her. "It's okay, okay..."   
  
"And I couldn't do it, I don't wanna pretend anymore. I don't wanna lie... I don't... And he knows... he knows... he saw!"   
  
Brady put his hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes, trying to calm the storms behind them. "It's alright. You don't have to pretend anymore. We'll leave... We'll leave tonight."  
  
"Leave? What... The show..."  
  
Brady shook his head, the only thing he cared about was her. "I don't care... I don't care about the show. We love each other and that's all that matters."   
  
He smiled at her sweetly and wiped away her tears with the tips of his fingers. Chloe nodded in understanding, knowing that he was right. She didn't care about anything else, just him. "Yes... Yes. As long as we have each other."   
  
Chloe kissed him briefly and smiled back at him, continuing more calmly than before. "We have each other."   
  
Brady nodded and grabbed his coat off the bed, he wrapped it over her shoulders, trying to cover her torn dress and her exposed skin. He looked towards Chocolat and gave him instructions. "Chocolat, take Miss Chloe to her dressing room and get the things she needs. No one must see you, do you understand?"   
  
Chocolat nodded, if anyone saw what they were up to then surely they would try to stop them. "I understand."   
  
Brady kissed her again and Chloe smiled in reply. "Darling, you go and pack. I'll be waiting."  
  
He watched her go and then went back to his window to wait. They would get away from her, away from everything that stood between them. It didn't matter where they went or how they got there, their love could overcome any obstacle in their way.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Only a few more chapters left! Wheeee!! Thanks again for reading and reviewing!! Your support of me, and this risky little story especially, means so much to me.  
  
-Hope- 


	9. The Show Must Go On

Rated SB - for SAD BROE!!  
  
For this chapter:  
  
--- Chloe sings.  
((( Zidler sings  
*** Chloe & Zidler sing  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Nine: The Show Must Go On  
  
Phillip sat on the edge of the bed in the gothic tower. He was seething with anger as one of his servants cleaned the scratch on his face from the blows delivered to him by Chocolat. It was becoming more and more clear to anyone with an ounce of sense that Phillip was a psychopath, driven mad by jealousy.  
  
Zidler had been called over by Phillip soon after he regained consciousness, and now he stood nearby, as Phillip's manservant Warner stood in the doorway observing.  
  
Phillip looked towards Zidler, his eyes a steely shade of blue, but the fire of his insanity burning behind them. "It's the boy. He... He has bewitched her with words. I want her back, Zidler. Find her. Tell her that the show *will* end my way. And, she will come to me when the curtain falls. Or -- or I'll have the boy *killed*."  
  
Phillip looked toward Warner with a knowing glance. A glance that said to kill Brady if he was seen anywhere near Phillip or Chloe.  
  
Zidler swallowed a lump in her throat, and stared at Phillip in surprise. "Killed?"  
  
Zidler looked at Warner as Phillip repeated himself confidently. "Killed."  
  
Warner nodded in understanding, accepting his mission with glee.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chloe rushed around her room quickly packing everything that she needed, as Marie stood by and observed. She stood there quietly, not even asking why Chloe was so frantic. Chloe grabbed her robe and pulled it over her torn dress, and was surprised to see Zidler solemnly walking through her door.  
  
"Forgive the intrusion, cherub."   
  
Chloe stared at him, knowing that he must have been here to tell her what a mistake she had made with Phillip. "You're wasting your time, Harold."   
  
"Poppet, you don't understand. The Duke is going to kill Brady."   
  
Chloe paused and looked at her reflection in the mirror, staring in disbelief. "What? No..."  
  
Zidler was insistent with his tone of voice, giving her a warning. "Phillip is insanely jealous. Unless you do his ending, and sleep with him tomorrow night... He will have Brady killed."  
  
She felt tears welling up behind her eyes and tried to fight them back. Chloe quickly brushed a tear out from underneath one eye and turned to look at Zidler confidently. "He can't scare us."  
  
"He's a powerful man. You know he can do it."   
  
Chloe shook her head and threw her robe off, putting Brady's jacket back on like a security blanket. Zidler questioned her, not understanding why she wasn't listening to him. "What are you doing?"   
  
She stared at him in anger, hot tears running down her face, her voice boiling up with all the years of misery she had felt by being a part of the Moulin Rouge's underworld. "I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE! All my life... you made me believe I was only worth what someone would pay for me! But, Brady loves me. He loves me, Harold. HE LOVES ME. And that is worth... everything. We're going away from you. Away from Phillip. Away from the Moulin Rouge! Goodbye, Harold..."  
  
Chloe walked away from him towards the door, but he stopped her with three words, his tone quiet and sad. "You're dying, Chloe..."  
  
She stopped her in her tracks with a loud gasp, but kept her gaze away from him as he repeated his words. "You're dying..."  
  
Chloe coughed softly and shook her head. He must be trying to trick her, doing anything he could to keep her here, to keep his precious show from closing before it opened. "Another trick, Harold?"  
  
"No, my love. The doctor told us."   
  
Chloe turned around and looked towards Marie for confirmation, and the woman nodded sadly, indicating that Harold's words were not lies. She shut her eyes for just a moment, as her world seemed to move in slow motion around her. Chloe was beginning to understand it all. The coughing, the fainting spells, the weakness, the gasping for breath. It was true, her life was fading away from her as each second passed. She opened her eyes again and spoke softly to herself. "I'm dying..."  
  
More tears fell down her cheeks, and she sang softly the thoughts that were in her head. For one moment she believed in love overcoming all obstacles, but now she knew the truth. No amount of love could save her life.  
  
--- I was a fool to believe.  
A fool to believe.  
It all ends today.  
Yes, it all ends today... ---  
  
She walked back into the room and slowly sat down in her chair. Zidler looked at her and spoke. "Send Brady away. Only you can save him."  
  
Chloe shook her head and looked up at him. "He'll fight for me."  
  
"Yes. Unless he believes you don't love him."   
  
"What?"   
  
"You're a great actress, Chloe. Make him believe you don't love him."   
  
A soft sob erupted from her throat and she shook her head vehemently. How could she even think of breaking such a beautiful heart? "No... No..."   
  
Zidler walked closer to her, urging her on. She had to send him away from the Moulin Rouge, if Phillip even saw him nearby he would surely kill him. And, breaking his heart was the only way to make him give up his fight for her. "Use your talent to save him. Hurt him. Hurt him to save him. There is no other way. The show must go on, Chloe. We're creatures of the underworld. We can't afford to love."   
  
Chloe looked at her bird in its cage and tried to slow down the tears that were falling. She felt so tired and so weak, hardly able to fight for what she wanted. The bird was a reminder of how she almost had a chance to fly away, and now she had lost it. She had to do what Harold said, she had to break his heart to save his life. Phillip was a psychopath, and she knew he would stop at nothing to destroy Brady.  
  
She nodded in understanding, grateful to have experienced such a thing of beauty before her life ended. She looked back at Zidler, finally accepting her fate that was to come.  
  
--- Today's a day... ---  
  
*** When dreaming ends. ***   
  
Zidler left her side, so she could change her clothes and walked through the theatre, his own sadness and disappointment weighing heavy on his shoulders. His sparrow was dying, and losing her chance at love, and despite all of that they would have to find a way to continue with the show.  
  
((( Another hero.  
Another mindless crime.  
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime.  
On and on...   
Does anybody know what we are living for?   
  
What ever happened?   
We leave it all to chance.   
Another heartache.   
Another failed romance.   
On and on...   
Does anybody know what we are living for? )))  
  
Zidler stood on the stage, looking around the theatre as his crew prepared for tonight's performance. He looked towards the door, the sun was beginning to rise outside bringing a new day with it.  
  
((( The show must go on!  
The show must go on!   
  
Outside the dawn is breaking...   
On the stage that holds our final destiny...  
The show must go on!  
The show must go on! )))  
  
Chloe stood in front of the mirror in her room, looking at her reflection. She had changed into a dark gray, very conservative dress, and wore a black hat with a mesh veil that hung over her face. She looked like she was heading into a funeral, and in a way she was. Chloe was heading off to end the relationship she had with her soulmate.  
  
--- Inside my heart is breaking.  
My makeup may be flaking  
But my smile still stays on... ---   
  
((( The show must go on!  
The show must go on! )))  
  
Chloe walked to the stage and stood at the edge.  
  
--- I'll top the bill!  
I'll earn the kill!  
I have to find the will to carry on... ---   
  
*** ...with the  
On... with the  
On... with the show! ***  
  
Chloe walked towards the door, but did not glance at Harold as she passed him to walk outside. She could hardly bear to look at anyone as she the short walk to Brady's apartment became the longest walk of her life.  
  
((( On with the show!  
On with the show! )))  
  
*** The show... must... go on! ***   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Brady was patiently waiting for her arrival, but couldn't help but be surprised at her appearance when she opened his door. Her clothing was much different than usual, and her expression seemed as if she had bad news to share with him. She entered the room and he walked towards her with concern.  
  
"What's wrong?  
  
Chloe smiled weakly, preparing herself to give the best acting performance of her entire life. She pretended as if she meant every word that came out of her mouth, even though her heart was being ripped to shreds inside.  
  
"I'm staying with Phillip. After I left you, he came to see me and he offered me everything. Everything that I've ever dreamed of. He has one condition -- that I must never see you again. I'm sorry..."   
  
Brady stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Zidler's words echoed in her head. Make him believe you don't love him. She knew she could do it. She had been paid for a long time to make men believe she did love them, she could certainly do the opposite. "You knew who I was."   
  
"What are you saying? What about last night? What we said..."   
  
"I didn't expect you to understand. The difference between you and I is that you can leave anytime you choose. But this is my home. The Moulin Rouge is my home."   
  
Chloe turned away from him, gasping for air, trying her best to hide her illness from him. He couldn't know that she was dying, or else he would stay by her side and be killed for certain.  
  
Brady walked towards her and put his hands on her arm, trying to keep her from walking out. His tone was desperate and scared. How could she profess her love and devotion one moment and then break his heart the next? "No... There must be something else -- this can't be real! There's something the matter, tell me what it is... Tell me what's wrong! Tell me the truth! Tell me the truth!"  
  
They could both hear the thunder rolling outside the open window. The storm brewing in the sky over Montmartre reflecting the storm brewing between them. Chloe turned to face him, her lies spilling out with ease as the thunder clashed all around them.  
  
"The truth? The truth is... I *am* the Hindi courtesan. And I choose... the Maharajah. That's how the story really ends."  
  
She walked away quickly, leaving him with his anger and confusion. Chloe could no longer stand to be there, staring at the sadness in his deep blue eyes.  
  
The sky outside tore open and began raining down around his building. The rain was like tears from the heavens above, crying over another love lost and two hearts broken. Brady walked outside and searched the streets for her, but did not see her. He walked to the front door of the Moulin Rouge screaming her name at the top of his lungs.  
  
Two guards found him outside and dragged him away, but Brady fought back until one of them punched him square in the face, throwing him to the ground. Toulouse and the others found him there, face down in the rain-covered streets and carried him back to his apartment. The others left to head back to the theatre for the show, but Toulouse stayed behind as Brady told him what happened with Chloe.  
  
Toulouse stood at his bedside, not understanding why Chloe would do such a thing to him. He had witnessed their love with his own eyes, and Toulouse knew that there was something else going on, something more than what Brady may have thought. "Things aren't always as they seem..."  
  
Brady refused to look in Toulouse's direction, shaking his head slightly. Somehow the young writer had lost his optimistic outlook, and more devastatingly than that, his belief in love. "Things are exactly the way they seem..."   
  
"Christian, you may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love -- if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being. She loves you. I know it -- I know she loves you."   
  
"Go away, Toulouse. Leave me alone."   
  
Toulouse did not move, he stared at him with concern, wondering how the wide-eyed boy who was in love with the idea of love had fallen into this downward spiral.   
  
Brady spoke again, getting angrier with his friend as he spoke each word. "Go. Away. GO AWAY!!!"  
  
Toulouse nodded and grabbed his coat, giving Brady one last glance of worry before leaving to head over to the Moulin Rouge for tonight's performance.  
  
Brady sat in silence for quite a while, doing everything he could to shut out what Toulouse had said to him. But, he was filled with doubt inside. He knew that Chloe loved him, and he had never doubted that until this morning. There was only one way to find out what was really going on, so Brady got up and took his typewriter with him to a shop around the corner. He traded it in for a large sum of money and headed back to the Moulin Rouge, for one last time.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Thanks for reading and reviewing!  
  
-Hope- 


	10. The Greatest Thing

For this chapter:  
+++ Brady sings  
--- Chloe sings  
*** Both sing.  
((( Other cast members sing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Ten: The Greatest Thing  
  
Brady stood outside the Moulin Rouge, hearing the music, and his lyrics as it seeped through the walls to the outside. He came to find out the truth from Chloe. Was she really just a courtesan who was after money and security, or did she love him as he loved her? He walked around to the side of the building, trying to find a back way into the theatre.  
  
Onstage, Zidler was playing his part as the Maharajah as Phillip sat in the front row of the packed crowd. He had a smile of satisfaction on his face, and in the seat next to him were two dozen red roses. Roses that he planned on giving his courtesan after the show was over.  
  
Zidler waved his fake sword on stage and shouted, "She is mine!"   
  
His line cued the beginning of an elaborate musical number filled with Hindi courtesans, an evil Maharajah, and Toulouse as the magical sitar, who could only speak the truth.  
  
((( I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth  
I only speak the truth )))   
  
Brady found an unlocked window in the back of the theatre and slipped through it quietly. He made his way backstage, but he did not go unnoticed. Phillip's henchman, Warner, spotted him almost immediately and took his gun out of his jacket preparing to chase after the young writer. However, Brady was completely unaware that his life was in danger as he darted around the backstage areas, searching for Chloe.  
  
Onstage, Nini led a chorus of dancers and singers in a high-energy Hindi inspired number.  
  
((( Chamma chamma he chamma chamma  
Chamma chamma, baajare meri bendariya   
Re chamma chamma, baajere meri bendariya   
Tere paas aawoun teri   
Saanson mein samavoun  
Chamma chamma he chamma chamma   
Chamma chamma, baajare meri bendariya   
Re chamma chamma, baajere meri bendariya   
baajere meri bendariya   
bendariya  
He chamma chamma he chamma chamma  
Chamma chamma, baajare meri chamma   
baajare meri bendariya  
baajere meri  
Tere paas aawoun teri  
Saanson mein samavoun  
Saanson mein samavoun raja  
Saanson mein samavoun raja )))  
  
Chloe made her onstage entrance, amidst a throng of dancers. She was bathed in blue light and carried to center stage.  
  
+++ Ohh oh oh, oh oh oh oh... +++  
  
She paused for a second, a sudden rush of dizziness making her stop. She regained her composure a moment later and continued on with her performance.  
  
+++ Kiss... Hand... Diamonds best friend.  
Kiss... Grand... Diamonds best friend.  
Men cold... Girls old...  
And we all lose our charms in the end.  
  
Ohh... ohh... ohh...ohhh!  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Diamonds are a  
Girl's... best... friend. +++  
  
Zidler wrapped his arm around her and stood behind her, growling out his line as the evil Maharajah. "She is mine..."  
  
Phillip's smiled was tinged with a bit of insanity as he repeated Zidler's line from his seat in the audience. "She is mine."  
  
The curtain closed and Chloe quickly ran to her dressing room for her next costume change. Meanwhile, Toulouse and the Argentinean were preparing for their next entrances as Toulouse was still discussing the mystery behind Chloe leaving Brady for Phillip.  
  
"I know she still loves him... There's got to be a reason..."  
  
"How about one of them is a duke, and the other..." The Argentinean's narcolepsy decided to strike at that moment and he fell asleep before finishing his sentence. Toulouse walked on to his platform that raised him high above the stage, still shaking his head in confusion.  
  
"Something's wrong..."  
  
The Argentinean's sleeping body slipped through the trap door and went underneath the set, exactly where Brady was currently hiding. He took the white coat from the Argentinean's sitar player costume and quickly put it on.  
  
Chloe was in her dressing room, getting trussed up in her white gown for the final part of the show. She was having a hard time getting ready with all of the violent coughing. Marie forced some medicine down her throat to help ease the cough until the show was over.  
  
Warner caught up to Zidler backstage, as Brady had slipped out of sight. "The boy is here..."  
  
Zidler's face filled with worry. Why would Brady show up here now? "I told Chloe that if he were to come near her, he would be killed."  
  
Warner growled angrily before walking away. "He very soon will be..."   
  
Toulouse had been listening in and watching Warner from his platform overhead. Now he knew exactly what had happened, and now he had to find Brady so he could warn him. "He will be killed... That's it! That's why she's pushing him away -- to save him! That's it, that's it! BRAAAA-DY!!"  
  
Toulouse looked around frantically for his young friend but couldn't see him. The platform rose higher and he clutched tightly to the ropes. "Oh God, this is high up..."   
  
Brady avoided Warner successfully and found his way to Chloe's dressing room. He stood in her doorway, his hand clutching the stack of money tightly, as his eyes flashed with anger and determination. "I've come to pay my bill..."   
  
Chloe stared at him in fear and shook her head. "You shouldn't be here, Brady. Just leave."   
  
She walked past him into the backstage area, but Brady followed, marching behind her angrily. He latched on to her arm and forced her to face him. "You made me believe that you loved me! Why shouldn't I pay you?"  
  
Chloe was gasping for breath, her lungs failing on her as she stared into his eyes. He was desperate for answers, desperate to find out if he really meant nothing to her. But, she couldn't give him those answers. Not now and maybe never. "Please... Brady..."  
  
She gasped again, hot tears rolling down her face as Marie shouted at them. "She's got to get on the stage!"   
  
Zidler was onstage, looking towards the door where Chloe and the Argentinean were supposed to make their entrance from, as he shouted his lines to the audience. "Jealousy has driven the sitar player into hiding!"   
  
Brady stared at her in confusion, wondering how she could be so cold at one moment and then a sobbing mess the next. She truly was a great actress, as he could hardly decipher between what was real and what was not. "If it's your job, you did it very, very well... Why can't I pay you like everyone else does?"  
  
Chloe moved away from him and ran up the backstage stairs to where she would have to enter and once again play the part of the Hindi courtesan. Brady followed her, persistent in his pursuit of answers. Chloe looked at him, pleading with her eyes for him to leave, hoping to save his life. "Brady, it's nothing... Just leave..."   
  
She could hear Zidler's voice booming on the other side of the set. "But I have found him!"   
  
And that's when she looked over Brady's shoulder and saw Warner. His gun was aimed at Brady and he was rushing towards him. She looked back at Brady and through her tears, continued pleading with him. "Go!. Please go!"   
  
"But if it wasn't real... Why can't I pay you?"   
  
Above them, Toulouse was shouting his name, trying to warn Brady of the impending danger. And, on the other side of the set, Zidler was calling out the cue for Chloe and the Argentinean's entrance, but the Argentinean was nowhere to be found. "Open the doors!"  
  
Brady continued trying to hand her the money that was clutched tightly in his hand. "Let me pay. Let me pay! Tell me it wasn't real! Tell me you don't love me!"  
  
Warner was about to fire when the doors opened, leaving Chloe and Brady exposed to the audience as he continued begging her for a response. "Tell me you don't love me!"   
  
Warner backed away and tried to stay out of sight. The cast and audience were both silent and shocked, and the expression on Phillip's face showed but disappointment and anger. The boy had come after all, and Warner had yet to do the job that Phillip had requested of him.  
  
Zidler remained in character and tried his best to play off Brady's sudden appearance to the audience. "Ha Ha Ha! I am not fooled! Though he has shaved off his beard and adopts a disguise, mine eyes do not lie! For it is he! The same, penniless sitar player! Driven mad by jealousy!"   
  
The audience made a noise of understanding, figuring that a new actor had been brought in to replace the Argentinean. Brady was holding Chloe by the arm and he brought her down the steps and on to the stage. She fell to the floor of the stage, her face covered in tears, both sobbing and gasping for air at the same time.  
  
Brady looked to Phillip in the audience as he spoke the line that he had written for the penniless sitar player to say to the Maharajah. "This woman is yours now."  
  
He threw his money at her, as the tears began to build in his eyes. "I've paid my whore. I owe you nothing. And you... You are *nothing* to me."  
  
Chloe was crying heavily as Brady stared down at her. He felt his own tears falling, as his sobs erupted from his throat. He spoke in punctuated tones, between his soft sobbing, as his heart was breaking into a million pieces. "Thank you... For curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love."  
  
He walked off the stage and into the aisle of the theatre. Brady locked eyes with Phillip as if to tell him there was no reason to worry, the Hindi courtesan chose the Maharajah, just as his courtesan had chosen the Duke. He continued down the aisle, walking towards the exit. The room was silent, as Chloe was still crying in a heap on the stage.   
  
Toulouse was still up on his platform, watching sadly from above, and realizing that he couldn't remember his next line.  
  
Zidler continued on with the show, although he knew that Brady's display was not an act. "This sitar player doesn't love you! See, he flees the kingdom!"  
  
Zidler went and kneeled by Chloe's side. He spoke softly so that only she could hear, trying to reassure her that she had done what was for the best. "Pumpkin, it's for the best. You know it is. The show *must* go on."  
  
Chloe shook her head, unable to speak as Zidler lifted her to her feet. He raised his voice, turning back to the audience to continue the show. "And now my bride, it is time for you to raise your voice to the heavens and say your wedding vows!"  
  
Brady took the Argentinean's jacket off and threw it to the floor, continuing his walk towards the door. Toulouse suddenly remembered his line, the most important one in the show and screamed for Brady to stop.  
  
"I've got it! I've got it! BRAAAAAADY! STOOOOOOPPPP!! The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return!"   
  
A complete silence fell over the theatre and Chloe shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she realized what she had to do. She had spent her whole life doing what others told her to do, and for one moment before she died, she had to do what her heart told her to do. Chloe couldn't let Brady walk out that door with a broken heart, so she turned to sing towards him, softly at first, but increasing with volume and power as she sang each line.  
  
--- Never knew  
I could feel like this.   
Like I've never seen the sky before.  
Want to vanish inside your kiss.  
Every day I'm loving you more and more... ---  
  
Chloe walked to the edge of the stage, and Brady turned around. He wasn't sure if she was being true, or just playing her part. So, Chloe continued, singing out louder, pouring her heart out to him in front of a theatre full of people.  
  
--- Listen to my heart.   
Can you hear it sing?  
Come back to me...  
And forgive everything... ---  
  
Chloe gasped loudly, but quickly regained her composure. Brady had a few tears running down his face and he listened to her song. Her words connected to her heart in a way that he had never heard it before, telling him that she really did love him, and wanted him by her side.  
  
--- Seasons may change, winter to spring...  
  
She paused and whispered to him, with all of the sincerity and meaning in her heart, proving that her words were the truth. "I love you."  
  
--- Until the end of time... ---   
  
Brady was clearly struck by her words, and he responded with his own, as Chloe smiled with relief. He walked towards the stage, his voice filled with strength and truth.  
  
+++ Come what may  
Come what may  
Come what may  
Come what may   
I will love you... +++   
  
--- I will love you... ---   
  
+++ Until my dying day... +++  
  
--- Dying day... ---   
  
Brady stepped on to the stage and Chloe laid her hands on his chest, smiling as they sang to each other.  
  
*** Come what may... ***  
  
+++ Come what may... +++   
  
--- Come what may... ---   
  
*** I will love you until my dying... ***   
  
Warner had found his way to the side of the stage and had his gun cocked and ready to fire. Phillip gave him a nod of approval, and just as he was about to fire, Toulouse swung down from the platform and knocked the gun out of his hand. "Brady! He's got a gun! They're trying to kill you!"  
  
Chaos broke out on stage as the cast began running back and forth. The Argentinean had woken up and he burst through the doors shouting, "No problem! Go back to work!"  
  
The cast assembled again, beginning the grand finale, as Brady and Chloe held on to each other at center stage.  
  
((( No matter what you say...   
You shouldn't stand in our way.   
You've got to stand your ground!   
For Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love!   
Children of the Revolution... )))  
  
--- I'll fly away... ---   
  
+++ My gift is my song... +++  
  
((( No, you won't fool the Children of the Revolution! )))  
  
--- I'll fly away... ---   
  
+++ My gift is my song! +++  
  
((( Come what may! )))   
  
*** I will love you! ***  
  
((( Come what may! )))   
  
Phillip stood from his chair, realizing that the power had somehow been taken out of his hands. He marched down the aisle angrily, and came upon Warner's gun that had somehow ended up on the floor of the theatre. He picked it up and stared at it thoughtfully, wondering if he didn't have to leave after all.   
  
*** Yes, I will love you! ***  
  
((( Come what may! )))   
  
*** I will love you,   
Until my dying... ***   
  
Phillip turned around and aimed the gun towards the two lovers, he began running down the aisle, shouting insanely. "MY WAY! MY WAY!"  
  
But before he could shoot, Zidler realized he had far too much of Phillip and his psychotic games, so he thrust his fist into the duke's face, knocking him to the ground, and knocking the gun far far away.  
  
*** ...Day! ***   
  
The curtain closed and the audience began to roar and applaud with delight. Brady and Chloe were safe together, and Brady smiled happily at his love, as she held on to his hands.   
  
The stage manager walked by shouting to the rest of the cast. "Stand by for curtain call! Dancers positions please!"   
  
Brady kissed her sweetly and continued to smile, as the rest of the cast moved about the stage to prepare for their curtain call. He tried to lead her away, but Chloe stopped in her tracks. She began coughing loudly, and wheezing. Brady turned back to her and looked at her in confusion.  
  
"Chloe!"  
  
Her coughing became louder and more violent and she fell into his arms. Brady gently brought her to the floor, holding her on his lap. "Chloe... What's the matter? Tell me... Chloe... What's the matter?"  
  
Brady noticed a trickle of blood coming from her mouth, and as she coughed even more of blood spattered his white shirt. He realized how seriousness her illness really was and turned to shout for help. "God... Oh my god! SOMEONE GET SOME HELP!"  
  
The rest of the cast watched in silence, and Zidler shouted for someone to find the doctor.  
  
Chloe looked up into Brady's blue eyes, barely able to speak. She had to apologize, not only for the pain she had caused him but also for leaving him far too early. "I'm sorry, Brady. I -- I -- I'm dying."   
  
Brady held her tightly, not knowing if he was trying to keep her calm or keep himself calm. He couldn't believe what she was saying, not knowing how she could be taken away from him like this. "Shhh..."   
  
"I'm so sorry..."   
  
"You'll be alright. You'll be alright. You'll be alright." He kept repeating himself, thinking that the more he said it, the more likely it would be true.  
  
Chloe's skin felt like ice, although she was covered in sweat. "I'm cold... I'm cold... cold... Hold me..."  
  
Brady held her tightly, hoping to warm her body with his own heat. He sniffled as a few tears fell down his cheeks and whispered to her. "I love you..."   
  
"You've got to go on, Brady"   
  
Brady's words broke through his tears. He couldn't live without her, he just couldn't. "Can't go on without you though..."   
  
Chloe shook her head. She had to make him understand. He had a beautiful talent that he needed to share with the world. And it wasn't fair for her death to rob him of his life. "You've got so much... to give. Tell our story, Brady."   
  
"No... No..."  
  
"Yes, yes.... Promise me, promise me... Yes..." Chloe could barely speak, her voice was so quiet, and she felt herself fading away from him, as everyone else watched in silence.  
  
Finally, Brady nodded in understanding. He would make a promise to his love, and he would keep it no matter what. "Yes...   
  
Chloe looked into his sad eyes and knew that he would keep his promise. She was grateful to have known his love, however briefly it lasted. It was a gift to be loved by him, and to love him in return, and now she knew she had to let go. "I will... I'll always be with you..."  
  
Chloe took a few sharp breaths and then fell lifeless in his arms. Brady began sobbing, a guttural noise that erupted from his throat. The sound of a man that had been torn into pieces, suffering the greatest loss he would ever know. He leaned forward and planted one last kiss on her lips as his tears fell on to her face. He continued sobbing and shut her lifeless blue eyes with the tips of his fingers.  
  
The audience continued to roar, but the people behind the curtain could only hear one thing. The sobbing of the man who had lost his love.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
(Months later.)  
  
((( There was a boy...   
A very strange enchanted boy... )))  
  
Brady had spent months holed up in his modest apartment, letting the days pass him by as he grieved the loss of Chloe. He had let his facial hair grow into a beard, and although he had promised Chloe to tell their story, he had been unable to find words to express it until this day.  
  
On this particular day, Brady went to the window and looked out at the morning sky. He ran a hand through his beard with a sigh, and turned to the bird that had once belonged to Chloe. Brady opened the cage and let the bird fly free, watching it as it soared into the sky. Chloe had always wanted to fly away from the Moulin Rouge, and now she was with the angels in heaven.  
  
He took a deep breath in and sat back down at his typewriter, writing the ending to the story he had promised her to share with the world.  
  
"Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and then -- one not-so-very-special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time. A story about a place. A story about the people. But above all things a story about love. A love that will live forever. The End."   
  
((( The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love in return... )))  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
See the EPILOGUE for more... You think that's the end?! HA! I say! HA! It only feels like the END!  
  
And no, I don't know what all the Hindi words mean. :(   
  
-Hope- 


	11. Epilogue: The Day When Dreaming Begins

Epilogue: The Day When Dreaming Begins  
  
Chloe was wrapped in the darkness that surrounded her. She felt strangely safe and warm. The last thing she recalled was looking up in to the eyes of Brady, the young handsome Bohemian writer that she had fallen in love with. Chloe remembered telling him that she would always be with him, as his tears mingled with her own and then there was nothingness. Now she could hear a voice softly singing from somewhere beyond her, a voice that sounded familiar.  
  
((( The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love...  
And be loved in return... )))  
  
She could hear Brady speak to her, but he no longer sounded upset or scared. "Chloe... Chloooooeeee... Wake up. Chloe, wake up."  
  
Chloe opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the light above her. She was still wrapped in Brady's arms, but no longer were they backstage at the Moulin Rouge. She wasn't in her costume, and neither was he. He was still young and handsome, but he as not a penniless writer and she was not a courtesan.  
  
She lifted her head from his chest and looked around. They were on the couch in Brady's loft, no longer in turn of the century Paris, but in Salem, 2002. She looked back at Brady and shook her head in confusion.  
  
"Oh my God... Brady... I... I..."  
  
Brady grinned at her and brushed his hand through her hair. "Glad you've decided to join me for the movie. Just in time too."  
  
Chloe looked towards his television set and saw the closing credits of "Moulin Rouge" flashing by. She looked back at him, her eyes filled with surprise. "Brady... I had the strangest dream."  
  
"Yes, Dorothy... But, now you're safe back in Kansas with your Auntie Em, and the Wicked Witch is dead."  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes and playfully smacked his arm. "Gee, thanks... Very funny, TOTO."  
  
"Are you calling me a DOG?"  
  
"Well, if the flea collar fits..."  
  
Chloe sat up and smoothed down her wrinkled shirt. Brady laughed at her and began barking quietly at her. Chloe giggled and put her hand over his mouth to shut him up.  
  
"Shush... Listen to me... I dreamt that I was..."  
  
"A dancer at the Moulin Rouge? And Ewan McGregor fell in love with you?"  
  
Chloe leaned back against the couch and shook her head. It was all so vivid in her memory, unlike any dream she could remember having. It wasn't just as if she was watching the action, it was as if she was living it. "No, not Ewan McGregor..."  
  
Brady wrinkled up his forehead in confusion. "Then who?"  
  
Chloe didn't want to answer him, didn't want tell him that she had dreamt about falling in love with him, so she rapidly diverted his question. "Brady... Start the movie over."  
  
"Start it over? I just watched a two and a half hour movie while you slept, and you want me to start it over and watch it again? Are you insane?"  
  
"I... I want to watch it this time. I promise I won't fall asleep."  
  
Brady grabbed the remote off the table and looked at her suspiciously. "Chloe... You've seen this movie about a thousand times, and you want to watch it again?"  
  
Chloe nodded and looked at him pleadingly. "Yes. That *is* what I said. Please start it over."  
  
Brady rolled his eyes and started the movie over from the beginning. "Boy, spend a couple months in a hospital, getting waited on hand and foot and you really do start to turn into a Diva."  
  
Chloe smiled victoriously and put her head back on his shoulder. Brady really didn't want to watch the movie again, and she knew it, he just didn't want her to leave and go home yet. She sighed softly and settled in as John Leguizamo's character Toulouse began singing the opening song.  
  
((( There was a boy  
A very strange, enchanted boy  
They say he wandered very far, very far  
Over land and sea  
A little shy and sad of eye  
But very wise was he...  
And then one day  
One magic day  
He passed my way  
And while we spoke of many things  
Fools and kings  
This he said to me...  
'The greatest thing you'll ever learn  
Is just to love...and be loved in return' )))  
  
Brady wrapped his arm around her shoulder and looked at her curiously. "Chloe... I'm really surprised at how much you've been watching this movie lately."  
  
"Why? It's one of my favorites. Ever since you took me to see it at Salem Place last summer..."  
  
"I know that... But, with you being sick, and the girl dying at the end. It's kind of depressing, isn't it?"  
  
Chloe paused to think about it, having experienced in her dreams, she had a different outlook on it than she did before. "It is very tragic, that's true. But, it's also kind of inspiring too."  
  
Brady frowned slightly and questioned her response. "Inspiring?"  
  
"Well, isn't it obvious? I mean, the love that Christian and Satine share... It's so powerful and amazing and beautiful. Most people search their entire lifetimes and never find that kind of love. But, Christian and Satine found it, and even though she dies in the end... It's the kind of love that will be remembered forever, it lives for all time."  
  
Chloe lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him, as she continued. "I mean... Have you ever... You know... Been in love like that?"  
  
Brady stared into her eyes, and Chloe felt her skin start to tingle. He looked like he was at a loss for words, and there was a long pause before he stammered out a reply. "I... I don't know. Does it count if it's unrequited love?"  
  
"Uhm, nope. The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love..."  
  
"And be loved in return. Yeah, yeah, I know... So, I guess my answer is no. What about you? Is my uncle Phil your Ewan McGregor, and you are his Nicole Kidman?"  
  
Chloe laughed and shook her head. "If you're calling me a prostitute with consumption, then no. And, if you think Phillip is the great love of my life, my soul mate, my destiny... Then, absolutely not."  
  
Brady sat back in surprise. "Are you saying that you're not in love with Phillip anymore?"  
  
"That's pretty much the gist of it. I've tried, God knows I have, but I just can't be with Phillip. It doesn't work, and to tell you the truth, I don't think it ever did. I will always have a special place in my heart for him, but it's over, completely and finally over. I want something more..."  
  
"You want a love like Christian and Satine? Powerful and deep, the kind of love that overcomes all obstacles, and survives even when death takes you from the earth."  
  
Chloe smiled and nodded. She didn't say it out loud, but she knew what she wanted. She wanted Brady, she had always wanted Brady. Even before her mind knew it, her heart knew that he was the one for her. "Don't you think I deserve that? Don't you think we all do?"  
  
Brady nodded in agreement and kissed her on the forehead. "I think we all deserve that, Diva."  
  
"I don't think it's asking too much. Before I die, I want to experience what true love has to offer me."  
  
"Well, it's good that you have plenty of time for that. You're in remission from your leukemia, and we found you a bone marrow match... You've got a long long time to find your true love."  
  
Chloe nodded and sighed softly, turning away from him to watch the movie. She knew that Brady loved her, his sister had even accidentally let it slip out to her the other day. Brady had told Belle that he loved her, but had still been unable to admit it to her. Of course, she wasn't exactly forthcoming with her feelings about him either. But, they were always there, in every smile exchanged between the two of them, and even the slightest of touches.  
  
They watched the movie in silence for quite awhile until they came upon the scene where the Duke first meets Satine. As the characters on screen were telling the Duke about 'Spectacular, Spectacular', Brady was chuckling softly and Chloe turned her head to look at him curiously. "What are you laughing at?"  
  
"That damn Duke... It's like, he's too much of a buffoon to be truly evil, and he's too evil for you to feel any sympathy towards him. He's just a... a putz."  
  
Chloe pictured Phillip in her head, as he had been in her dreams, the bumbling psychopathic Duke and nodded in agreement, stifling her own laughter. "Good point..."  
  
They watched as Christian returned to see Satine, as they discussed love together on top of the Elephant. Chloe's heart was pounding faster for some reason, and she was possessed by a sudden desire to do something she had never done before. She moved closer to Brady and laid her hand over his heart, causing him to turn and lock eyes with her.  
  
"Brady... I have to ask you something."  
  
Brady nodded and she continued with her query. "Do you believe in love?"  
  
"Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"  
  
Chloe took a deep breath in and continued. "Do you think that love is worth it? Worth all of the obstacles, the pain, the heartache that may or may not come, is it worth fighting for... Is love worth everything?"  
  
Brady was nearly breathless as he stared into her blue eyes, he hardly knew what to say, wondering where this was all leading. "Chloe... I... Yes, I do. If it's real and true, then love is worth everything."  
  
Chloe nodded and continued, the air between turning into a field of electricity. "And... Love, real and true love, it's worth risking everything... taking chances? Isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, I guess so... What are you trying to get at?"  
  
Chloe smiled lovingly at him. "I think it's time we start taking some chances."  
  
Brady didn't have a chance to respond, because Chloe leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his. She had dreamt of this moment before, but the real thing was even better than she could have imagined it. The kiss deepened and Brady gently trailed his fingers up her bare arm, pulling her closer to him. Onscreen, the two lovers were about to do the same, giving each other the first kiss of true love.  
  
((( How wonderful life is now you're in the world... )))  
  
Brady's kiss made her heart soar, and she felt like she could have sprouted wings and flown off into the sky at that very moment. She finally broke away from him and smiled.  
  
"You see, Brady... I learned, because of being sick and everything... Life is too short for me to not be sitting here and kissing you... and telling you that I love you."  
  
Brady looked stunned. "You love me?"  
  
"I... I do. I have since I don't know when. It took way too long for us to get here, I realize that. But, now, all of a sudden... I had to tell you. I didn't want to waste another minute. I love you, Brady, and I know in my heart that you feel the same."  
  
Brady smiled and gently brushed her cheek with the tips of her fingers. "I do. And, I have for a very long time. I love you too, Chloe..."  
  
"Come what may?"  
  
Brady grinned and nodded, returning her quote from the movie with his own. "Until the end of time..."  
  
Chloe smiled back at him and leaned forward for another kiss, one that reached right down to her soul. She had everything she had dreamt of, a true love to last for all time. It was her own story about love, but this one would have a happy ending.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THE END ~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okay, like I said from the beginning, this was a pretty risky idea for me to do, and I want to thank all of you who have supported me from Chapter One until the end. So, a huge thank you to the following people: Mariana, Scarlett, Silent Typewriter, Ponderer86, JennaBrady, Silly79, Rosine20, oceanstar21, BroeBlack, Beaglelover, and Xrystal  
  
Thank you ALL so so so much for your support and for reading. And thanks to all of those who read, but may not have commented, or if I missed your name. I needed all the support I possibly could get on this one, and you guys came through as you always do.   
  
I disclaim, therefore I am.   
  
I do not own Brady, Chloe or Phillip. However, if Ken Corday and the Days writing staff is looking for someone to take over ownership, then I would gladly oblige. (Especially if I get to write off Phillip or at least make him *likable*.)  
  
I most definitely do not own "Moulin Rouge". I wish I did. I stole the brilliance of writer/director/producer Baz Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce. I wish I could lay claim to the beauty of the story, but I can't. I wish I could lay claim to writing those lyrics, but I can't. That belongs to a ton of songwriters who I will not mention.  
  
If you have seen Moulin Rouge, I apologize for not being as good as the movie. If you have not seen it, I suggest you rent the movie because it's MUCH better than anything I've *ever* written and probably ever will write. It's a movie that some people hate and some people love. I happen to love it, which is good, considering how many frickin' times I had to watch it to write this story.  
  
I'm still mapping out another new Broe story, while continuing my Mason fic, but God only knows when I'll be ready to write it... Hopefully sooner than later.  
  
Thanks again to everyone for everything!  
  
-Hope Grace- 


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